The Vatican has issued a cautionary statement about the German bishops’ Synodal Path, saying that the initiative does not have authority to change Catholic doctrinal or moral teachings.

Without the approval of the universal Church, “it would not be permissible to initiate new official structures or doctrines in the dioceses,” the Vatican statement notes, adding that such unilateral changes would “represent a wound to ecclesial communion and a threat to the unity of the Church.

The statement expresses the hope that the Synodal Path “will converge with the synodal path being followed by the universal Church.”