Groups representing over 1.5 million German Catholics have again said there is an urgent need for change in the Church. The Church must change if it is to reverse its loss of credibility, they say. “Constructive dialogue and debate on necessary reforms are absolutely essential” at this point in the life of the Church. In Read more
German Catholics have criticised Vatican questions ahead of the synod on the family as proceeding from an idealised image of the family. This was the main criticism in a summary of replies of German Catholics to the 46 questions of the second Vatican questionnaire on the family. Germany’s Catholic bishops released the summary of responses, Read more
Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country’s bishops’ conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the pope’s endorsement. “We already have our own guidelines, and the pope has now clearly signaled that certain things can be decided locally,” said Robert Eberle, spokesman for the archdiocese of Read more
Catholics in Germany are wary about planned celebrations in 2017 to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s launching of the Reformation. A report from Reuters said German Protestants have invited Catholics to join in the celebrations, but it is still hard for some Catholics to accept the invite. “It’s not impossible in principle, but Read more
Judges at the Leipzig Federal Administrative Court in Germany agreed with Catholic bishops that German Catholics who refuse to pay a special church tax can be banned from Catholic worship. A report by Reuters said the verdict, which was based on German corporate law, upheld the system by which the state collects religious taxes from Read more
German Catholics who refuse to pay religious tax will not receive the sacraments or become a godparent. The German bishops’ conference last week issued a decree, saying it was “worried” about the Catholic Church’s dwindling numbers and wanted to stem the drop. Those who will refuse to pay the tax will not ba able to Read more