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The Synodal Church — Inaugurated by Pope Francis October 26, 2024
Jerome D. Gilmartin - April 15, 2025. Updated May 15, 2026.
Catholics, after hearing the words “Synodal Church” for the first time from their pastor during Mass on Sunday, may find the following in a Google web search:
“The [Synodal Church] document on the screen details a theological paradigm shift in the Catholic Church’s mission, driven by the ongoing Synod on Synodality and formulated by its expert committees.”
“A ‘paradigm shift’ describes a fundamental change in an approach or underlying assumptions.” (Google). In the Catholic Church that fundamental change has come in two steps:
The first fundamental change began quietly in the 1970s, soon after the Second Vatican Council, when instruction in most Catholic seminaries began to wrongly cast doubt on the authenticity of the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and John; thus facilitating the ecumenical dialogue called for by the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism.
The second fundamental change occurred October 26, 2024 when Pope Francis inaugurated the Synodal Church and with it the radical changes cited below; changes approved by Pope Leo XIV.
Soon after Pentecost the apostles began to follow the command of Jesus: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.“ (Mt 28:19-20). That would be the Catholic age. Two of those apostles, Matthew and John, would soon write eyewitness reports of all Jesus had commanded them... READ MORE
Jesus Emerges from the Historical-Critical Fog
Jerome D. Gilmartin. Published in the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly • Fall/Winter 2017
Introduction added, as well as the section, “Further Evidence for the pre-70 A.D. writing of all four Canonical Gospels,” an excerpt from, “The Poison Pill taken by Catholic colleges, universities and seminaries — and the antidote,” posted at 7stepcatholic.com. Dei Verbum §18 replaces… READ MORE
The Key to restoring Catholic orthodoxy
Jerome D. Gilmartin Published in Christian Order magazine, February, 2022. Revised July 5, 2023 to include Irenaeus, Adv. Haer, and the Protestant origin of Markan Priority.
It is well known that the “Spirit of Vatican II” changed the Catholic landscape, undermining the orthodoxy that resulted in the pre-Vatican II golden age… READ MORE
The Poison Pill taken by Catholic universities and seminaries – and the antidote
Jerome D. Gilmartin – December 9, 2021, revised February 3, 2023
It began with a mutiny. Not the upheaval that struck the Church following the July 29, 1968 announcement of Humanae Vitae. Not the many liturgical and other changes that — though not mandated by the second Vatican council — nonetheless were soon implemented.… READ MORE
Replacing "thin air" Jesus with the true Jesus in Catholic universities
By Jerome D. Gilmartin – September 11, 2019
Pope Benedict XVI: “Intimate friendship with Jesus … is in danger of clutching at thin air.” Jesus of Nazareth, 2007, p. xii. Catholic universities, and seminaries as well, now have reason to bring an end to five decades of instruction that, as Pope Benedict XVI… READ MORE
Will schism be the Coup de Gras to plummeting Catholic faith and practice? An urgent appeal to our bishops
Jerome D. Gilmartin Published February 26, 2024, Updated May 12, 2024
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!” Does that plea, so courageously expressed by Patrick Henry in 1775, have a corollary in the Church today? … READ MORE
Sorry Catholics – Jesus Never Said, "You are Peter, and on this rock..." or promised him the keys
Jerome D. Gilmartin — Revised April 12, 2024
Well, yes he did. But not according to the theory taught to most Catholic seminarians as the best explanation of Gospel origin. Consider the following hypothetical conversation with a Catholic bishop: “Your excellency, If I may ask, who wrote the first Gospel?” Most will answer, “Mark.” “Well,… READ MORE