ZdK (Central Committee of German Catholics) president Irme Stetter-Karp described the Sept 2-4 discussions with members of the Roman Curia as “fruitful.” “There was a remarkable willingness to listen and also question our own view of our counterpart,” she told the German Catholic news agency KNA Sept 5. “I found it fruitful, even where it Read more
Posts Tagged ‘German Synodal Way’
Germany now a ‘mission country’
Thursday, May 16th, 2024
Germany — a nation whose history is entangled with the Catholic Church — has become a “mission country” its Bishops’ Conference says. Conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing says under half of Germany’s citizens still belong to Christian denominations. Evangelisation in Germany has been a central theme since the time of Pope St John Paul II Read more
Synodal vs traditional – Church at crossroads
Monday, February 26th, 2024
The recent Vatican letter to the German Bishops’ Conference highlights the tension between a synodal, inclusive approach to Church governance involving bishops and laity and the traditional structures of clerical authority. This letter, and the broader debate it represents, is emblematic of a Church at a crossroads. It’s a Church grappling with the need to Read more
German bishops pause Synodal Council plans following Vatican intervention
Thursday, February 22nd, 2024
German bishops have postponed a crucial vote on establishing a Synodal Council following a request from the Vatican. The council was intended to be a mixed body of laity and bishops governing the Church in Germany. It was scheduled for discussion during a February 19–22 plenary assembly in Augsburg. Matthias Kopp, spokesperson for the German Read more
Catholic Bishop asks pastors to bless same-sex couples
Monday, November 6th, 2023
Blessings for same-sex couples and divorced and remarried couples in Germany’s Speyer diocese are now officially ‘allowed’. In his letter to priests, deacons and lay pastoral workers last week, Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann officially sanctioned the blessings. The same-sex blessings the Speyer diocese gave in the Speyer churches could also be given to remarried couples, he Read more
Synodality could cause schism, predicts cardinal
Thursday, August 24th, 2023
The synod on synodality could cause a schism in the Church, a leading conservative Catholic cardinal says. A new book, “The Synodal Process Is a Pandora’s Box: 100 Questions and Answers,” addresses the “serious situation” brought on by the synod, Cardinal Raymond Burke (pictured, centre) says. Pope Francis is risking confusion and even schism in Read more
Belgian Bishop defends blessing same-sex unions
Thursday, June 1st, 2023
The Flemish bishops’ decision to bless same-sex unions is reasonable, says Bishop Johan Bonny. Bonny and the other Flemish bishops of Belgium introduced a blessing for same-sex couples in September 2022. They also published a handout outlining suggested liturgy and prayers. The bishops’ based their decision to go ahead with the same sex blessings on Read more
German bishops ‘spike’ proposed sexual ethics changes
Monday, May 8th, 2023
The German “synodal way” has failed to pass a resolution to change the Church’s approach to sexual ethics, with bishops not supporting the members of the synod. The resolution, called “Life in succeeding relationships – The principles of renewed sexual ethics,” was voted on by the synodal meeting’s 209 participants, of which more than two-thirds Read more
Another decisive Vatican ‘no’ for German reformers
Thursday, April 20th, 2023The Vatican has underlined that lay Catholics may not participate in the election of a bishop and has thus turned down another of the German synodal path initiative’s reform proposals. Last September, the German archdiocese of Paderborn took up the synodal path initiative’s reform proposal titled “Involvement of the faithful in the appointment of the Read more
Vatican rejects German plans for laity to preach or baptise
Monday, April 3rd, 2023
The Vatican’s liturgy czar has intervened to stop the German Synodal Way’s resolution calling for laypeople to baptise and preach homilies during Mass in Germany. In a letter to the German Bishops’ Conference president dated March 29, Cardinal Arthur Roche (pictured) said neither was possible — despite at least one German diocese already announcing both Read more