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
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
Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, said he continues to have confidence in the Synodal Path of the Catholic Church in Germany. “Perhaps the communication on the reform project could have been better,” Grech said in an interview with Anna Mertens, editor of the German Catholic news agency KNA, published on 29 Read more
The Vatican has warned the German Catholic Church of the potential for a schism if it pursues new moral or doctrinal norms during its Synodal Way process. Members of the Synodal Way, a group made up of equal numbers of German bishops and lay Catholics, meet regularly. In February, they called on the Catholic Church Read more
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
A leading German cardinal has made an apology to LGBTQ people for the mistreatment they have been subjected to by the Catholic church. Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising (pictured) issued his apology on March 13 at a liturgy celebrating the 20th anniversary of a monthly LGBTQ Mass held in the archdiocese. Speaking at Read more
A German Catholic diocese has commissioned 17 women to perform baptisms, citing a shortfall in the number of priests. In Germany’s industrial Ruhr area, the Diocese of Essen is the first diocese in the country to appoint a group of women to administer the sacrament, reported CAN Deutsch. Church law stipulates that only an ordained Read more
The head of the German Bishops’ Conference on Monday pressed for a quick decision from Pope Francis on the future of a prominent archbishop who faces strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, said that he had offered his resignation to the pontiff Read more
Cologne’s cardinal, Rainer Maria Woelki, for a second time, has offered his resignation to Pope Francis. Woelki has been facing strong criticism for several months for his responses to allegations of child abuse in the Church. He chose to take a five-month break from his duties last September after the Vatican report accused him of Read more
A German bishop has issued a written commitment saying church workers will not be dismissed if they are LGBTQ. Archbishop Franz Jung of Würzburg has publicly declared that priests and other workers in his diocese should not fear any consequences for their sexual orientation. Jung’s declaration came in the wake of the OutInChurch initiative and Read more