Few may be aware that the familiar English phrase 'While the cat's away the mice wanna play' is actually derived from a medieval Latin proverb, 'Dum felis dormit, mus gaudet et exsi litantro'. The literal translation from Latin to English would rather be 'While the cat sleeps, the mouse happily leaves its hole'.

Similarly, the German Bishops' Conference, while collectively busy in Rome for the conclave that will begin on May 10, 2025 to elect a new pope for its Catholic members, seems to have quite secretly and quietly managed to prepare a counter-conclave in the German city of Magdeburg that will take place at almost exactly the same time.

The Conference announced that they will hold an important so-called 'Synod Assembly' on May 9 and 10, 2025. The umbrella movement called 'Synodal Path' was initiated at the end of 2019, following the many problems facing the Catholic Church in Germany: an exodus of its own members, almost zero vocations to the Catholic priesthood, criticism of being out of touch with the world and reality, and more. The assembly's existence was supercharged in 2022, when many pedophile abuse scandals shook the foundations of St. Peter's own successors in Germany and elsewhere.

So far, there has been only one important meeting of the Synod Assembly in June 2023, when its members presented an open letter to Pope Francis. Since 2019, a series of papers have been published on topics such as "The Synodal Way of the Church in Germany", "Priesthood Today", "Celebrating Couples in Love", and "Addressing Sexual Diversity".

Strangely and coincidentally, while some important German Shepherds are far away in Rome electing a new Pope, the Assembly seems to have launched a strange counter-offensive in Germany. According to the German Bishops' Conference, the second session of the Synodal Assembly, which as mentioned will take place on May 9-10, 2025, will discuss the following topics:



Quite strange indeed. Or, in Latin: Dum felis dormit, mus gaudet et exsi litantro.

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