Their meetings followed correspondence earlier this month in which Ouellet told Marx earlier the proposed synodal process could not begin without the pope's approval.

Ouellet included a four-page legal assessment of the synodal plans with his letter, which concludes the proposed synodal assembly is "not ecclesiologically valid".

The legal assessment also says the synodal plans aim to treat matters of universal Church teaching and discipline which "cannot be the object of the deliberations or decisions of a particular Church without contravening what is expressed by the Holy Father in his letter."

Despite this, Marx, who is the president of the German Episcopal Conference, was positive about the meetings.

"In both talks, a constructive dialogue took place, which will feed into the deliberations of the general assembly of the German Episcopal Conference next week."

Marx said he Francis and Ouellet discussed the draft statutes for a "Synodal Assembly" that the German bishops plan to form in partnership with the Central Committee of German Catholics.

The final plans for the process are on the agenda for the conference's meeting in Fulda this week.

If implemented the German process is likely to involve the conference and the lay Central Committee leadership engaging in a two-year partnership which would begin in Advent.

The conference's new direction was driven by an independent study about the extent of clerical sexual abuse in Germany.

Source

• The Catholic World Report
• Crux Now
• Image: AsiaNews

German theologian Julia Knop said a "leaden silence" descended on the assembly from the moment she began to speak.

At the Plenary Assembly of the German Episcopal Conference, Knop told the bishops that "sexual abuse is not part of the Church's DNA".

It "does not originate either from celibacy or over-representation of homosexual men among the Catholic clergy".

The novelty was in "recognising that these themes need to be reflected on together".

"But I did not tell them anything they did not already know," she said.

Knop also told the bishops that an independent report ordered by the Episcopal Conference on sexual abuse marked a turning point for many German Catholics.

"It showed that it was not a matter of a few isolated cases or individuals but that these abuses were linked to systemic factors," she said.

She told the German bishops they need to act quickly.

"Believers are exercising enormous pressure to find theological solutions to this crisis," she said.

Warning of a possible "internal schism between believers and clergy," she told the bishops that "time is running out, the window of opportunity seems limited and it may already be too late".

The Episcopal Conference says it will hold a synod to address these problems.

In Knop's opinion, the synod's effectiveness will depend on one condition: that theologians are given "real freedom to work without fear of being sanctioned".

Knop is convinced that the role of local churches will be central.

"A highly centralized mentality has developed in the Catholic Church," she said. "But each local church needs to accept its share of responsibility.

"Local solutions to theological problems can be found," she noted, pointing to the particular responsibility of the German Catholic Church with its theological universities of international repute.

At the university where she teaches, Knop said there is "immense interest" in issues of power, sexual morality and celibacy on the part of students including some who are preparing for the priesthood.

"They will conceive the Church of the future and will no longer be able to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors," she said.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: La Croix International