Posts Tagged ‘Catholic church reform’

Rome insists on leading reform, says theologian

Monday, July 8th, 2024
Paul Zulehner

According to Viennese theologian Paul Zulehner, the Vatican aims to lead the Catholic Church’s reform process before it is implemented in other countries. In a recent interview with Croatian radio station HRT, Zulehner shared insights on the ongoing Synodal Path and Rome’s approach to church reforms. Professor Zulehner claims Rome’s approach stems from its desire Read more

Urgent reform call amid alarming church statistics

Thursday, July 4th, 2024
Urgent reform

A leading German bishop has labelled new church statistics as alarming. Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, chair of the German Bishops’ Conference, stated “The figures show that the church is in a comprehensive crisis”. The statistics revealed a significant drop in Catholic Church membership. Approximately 403,000 Catholics left the church last year, reducing the total Read more

An idea for the next Catholic Reformation

Thursday, June 20th, 2024
Catholic

Perhaps it could emerge from the current Roman Catholic synodal movement? I would like to see a Roman Catholic constitutional convention, with a broad selection of lay and ordained members, assisted by historians, theologians, and sociologists. The task The task would be three-fold: First: Draw up a constitution for the Roman Catholic Church, as one Read more

Pope Francis faces Church modernisation challenges, says Irish President

Thursday, October 26th, 2023
Irish President Higgins

Irish President Michael D Higgins believes Pope Francis faces a significant challenge in reforming the Catholic Church to be more inclusive, particularly towards women and the LGBTQ+ community. President Higgins (pictured with Pope Francis) expressed these sentiments after a private audience with the pontiff in the Vatican’s library. “He faces grave difficulties in the institution Read more

Germany’s Synodal Path a model for global Church reform, says observer

Thursday, October 14th, 2021
Germany’s Synodal Path a model

Germany’s Synodal Path should be a model for reforming the Church globally, according to a leading outside observer. Théo Péporté is past-president of the Council of Christian Churches in Luxembourg and former vice-president of SIGNIS (the World Catholic Association for Communications). Péporté was one of 18 international observers who attended the 12-day Synodal Way procedure, Read more

Heightened tension during meeting with Archbishop of Cologne

Monday, July 5th, 2021
Archdiocese of Cologne crisis

The pastoral council of the Archdiocese of Cologne met in mid-June with their local ordinary, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, and the mood was particularly tense. The 75 priests and lay Catholics who make up the parish council met just days after the conclusion of an apostolic visitation of the archdiocese. The Vatican investigation of the Read more

Catholic laity will move Church forward

Thursday, June 11th, 2020

The Catholic laity became more discerning about the quality of worship services and preaching during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, says the head of Germany’s Catholic bishop’s conference. Speaking from his own experience, Bishop Georg Bätzing says he has noticed when he preaches “dialogically” (ie in a dialogue-like way), he gets a lot of feedback from Read more