Seville Archdiocese’s Down Syndrome Godmother Decision Exposes Modernist Apostasy

Catholic News Agency reports that the Archdiocese of Seville reversed a priest’s decision blocking Noelia García, a 19-year-old with Down syndrome, from serving as baptismal godmother. After media pressure, archdiocesan officials authorized the baptism with García as godmother, citing “pastoral accompaniment and prudence” while regretting “harm caused by the handling” of the case. The article notes García’s “serious difficulty expressing herself” and her failure to complete the required godparent formation program at the parish where the baptism would occur.

Sacramental Validity Sacrificed on Altar of False Inclusion

The archdiocese’s decision violates Codex Iuris Canonici (1917) Canon 765 §2, which mandates godparents must “know the rudiments of faith” and be “able to fulfill this spiritual responsibility.” García’s admitted communicative limitations directly contradict these requirements. By capitulating to media pressure rather than upholding sacramental integrity, the Seville hierarchy demonstrates its subservience to secular sentimentalism over divine law.

“The Church wants to foster the inclusion of all people in the ecclesial community, based on pastoral accompaniment and prudence,”

This statement exposes the conciliar sect’s inversion of priorities. Quas Primas (Pius XI, 1925) established that Christ’s kingship demands doctrinal clarity, not emotional accommodation: “When men recognize Christ’s royal authority…unheard-of blessings would flow upon society.” The archdiocese’s “inclusion” rhetoric substitutes earthly approval for supernatural truth – a hallmark of Modernism condemned in Lamentabili Sane (1907) as making “faith ultimately based on probabilities” (Proposition 25).

Pastoral Malpractice and Canonical Subversion

The pastor initially proposed allowing García ceremonial participation without canonical registration – a modernist compromise attempting to “have both the appearance of tradition and the substance of novelty” (Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis 26). When the family rejected this half-measure, archdiocesan bureaucrats overruled the priest rather than defend his legitimate pastoral judgment.

This episode reveals the conciliar sect’s systemic collapse of authority:

Disregard for formation requirements: García bypassed the parish’s mandated preparation program, yet archdiocesan officials rewarded this disobedience
Contempt for sacramental theology: Baptismal sponsorship becomes theatrical performance rather than sacred obligation
Abandonment of clerical support: The pastor now faces public vilification despite acting according to Church law

Theological Implications of Emotional Blackmail

The family’s media campaign and demand for the priest’s removal constitutes emotional terrorism against sacramental discipline. Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors explicitly condemned the notion that “ecclesiastical judgments should be subjected to civil power” (Proposition 41). By yielding to secular pressure, Seville’s hierarchy commits the very error Vatican I anathematized: subordinating “the spiritual sword to the temporal” (Pastor Aeternus, Ch. 3).

Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses’ confirmation of García proves nothing – apostate hierarchy routinely administer valid sacraments while destroying faith through scandalous precedents. As St. Robert Bellarmine warned: “A manifest heretic cannot be Pope” (De Romano Pontifice II.30), an principle extending to all prelates who publicly contradict Catholic doctrine.

Silent Apostasy Through Omission

The article’s glaring omission constitutes its most damning evidence: no mention of the baptismal candidate’s spiritual welfare. Traditional canon law prioritized the baptized child’s right to properly formed godparents over adult godparents’ desires. The conciliar sect’s inversion – sacrificing the child’s spiritual needs to adult emotional demands – fulfills Pius X’s warning that Modernists reduce sacraments to mere “reminders of the Creator’s benevolence” (Proposition 41 of Lamentabili).

This case exemplifies the neo-church’s descent into naturalism, where therapeutic gestures replace supernatural realities. As the true Church taught through centuries: “Sacraments effect what they signify” (Council of Trent, Session VII). By treating baptismal sponsorship as an inclusivity trophy rather than a sacred office, the Seville archdiocese mocks this fundamental truth.

Source:
Archdiocese of Seville permits woman with Down syndrome to be a godmother (catholicnewsagency.com)
Article date: 05.11.2025