Posts Tagged ‘Bishop Georg Bätzing’

German bishop demands apology from Cardinal over Nazi comparison

Thursday, October 6th, 2022
Cardinal Koch Nazi comparison

The president of the German bishops’ conference Bishop Georg Bätzing sat down with Cardinal Kurt Koch on October 4 to clear the air with the ‘Christian Unity’ president. Bätzing had demanded an apology from the Vatican’s Koch (pictured) over comments that brought up Germany’s Nazi past. He lamented what he called Koch’s “untenable statements” about the Read more

Religion is ‘interruption’, not continuity, says bishop

Thursday, September 29th, 2022
Religion is interruption

The shortest definition of religion is “interruption,” says Bishop Georg Bätzing (pictured). Some forms of continuity people seek from religion are “frankly suspect,” the president of the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference asserts. Bätzing made the comments during the bishops’ plenary assembly in a live-streamed Mass on Tuesday. In his homily he said “all too surely Read more

German synodal way members back permanent ‘synodal council’

Thursday, September 15th, 2022
German synodal way

The German “Synodal Way” has adopted a controversial proposal to create a permanent body composed of lay people and bishops to oversee the local Church. The country’s bishops initiated the “Der Synodale Weg” in 2019 in the wake of a damning report that showed the vast extent of the clergy sex abuse crisis. The aim Read more

No to liberal sexuality, yes to women in sacramental ministry

Monday, September 12th, 2022
German bishops reject call

On Friday Germany’s Synodal Way approved a text on the role of women in the Catholic Church, one that challenges the exclusion of women from sacramental ministry. The vote took place on the second day of the plenary session. The document “Women in ministries and offices in the Church” was facing its second reading. The Read more

German bishops ‘astonished’ by Vatican rebuke

Monday, July 25th, 2022
bishops ‘astonished’ by Vatican rebuke

German bishops have hit back against a Vatican warning over the direction of the Synodal Way, saying they were “astonished” by the rebuke. The Vatican said Germany’s synodal path is a threat to church unity at a universal level. The Holy See stressed that the undertaking lacks the authority to compel bishops to make changes Read more

Pope Francis to Bishop Bätzing: We don’t need 2 evangelical churches in Germany

Thursday, June 16th, 2022

Pope Francis said in an interview published on Tuesday that he told the leader of Germany’s Catholic bishops that the country already had “a very good evangelical church” and “we don’t need two.” The pope recalled his remark to Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German bishops’ conference, during a conversation with the editors of Read more

Germans respond to Synodal Way criticisms

Monday, March 28th, 2022
Synodal Way criticisms

The chairman of Germany’s Catholic bishops’ conference has responded to strong criticisms of the ‘Synodal Way’ by his Polish counterpart. Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Germany (pictured on the left) was answering criticisms levelled at Germany’s Synodal Way by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of Poznan, Poland (pictured on the right). Bätzing explained that the Synodal Way Read more

Choosing voluntary celibacy or marriage “does not touch the priesthood in itself”

Thursday, February 24th, 2022
https://www.ncronline.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_full_width/public/20200825T0930-GERMANY-BISHOPS-PARISHES-1004100%20c.jpg?itok=TtZwDrMf

Voluntary celibacy or marriage – the call for priests to be able to choose which state they prefer is growing stronger in Germany. German bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing (pictured) and Archbishop Ludwig Schick have added their support to Cardinal Reinhard Marx who spoke strongly in favour of voluntary celibacy at the beginning of Read more

German “synodal way” pushes Catholic teaching

Thursday, October 7th, 2021
National Catholic Reporter

The German “Synodal Way,” conference has approved a draft document that appears to be at odds with Catholic teaching on sexual morality. Called “Living in Successful Relationships – Living Love in Sexuality and Partnership,” Vatican News says the draft document clearly rejects “conversion therapies for homosexuals”, pleads on behalf of “homosexual partnerships and remarried divorcees Read more

As German Synodal Assembly begins, lay Catholics express anger at Vatican

Monday, October 4th, 2021

Against the background of lay Catholics’ anger about a Vatican decision not to censure Cologne clergy for mishandling abuse cases, German Catholics — bishops, clergy and laity — gathered in Frankfurt for the start of the three-day Synodal Path Assembly. But before discussions began on the agenda, the leadership decided to allow an hour to Read more