An in-depth study of Germany’s younger priests has found they have limited interest in the changes to the Catholic Church advocated by the country’s controversial “synodal way.” The study, published May 17, asked priests ordained between 2010 and 2021 how they believed the Catholic Church should be reformed. The majority did not select answers championed Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Synodal Way’
Four bishops boycott Germany’s synodal way meeting
Monday, November 13th, 2023
Despite Vatican disapproval, an important synodal way meeting in Germany took place on 10 November. It was the first meeting programmed to implement the country’s synodal way decisions. The meeting was light on bishops though. Eight of Germany’s 27 diocesan bishops were marked absent. Four chose to boycott the meeting: Cologne’s Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Read more
Pope Francis criticises ’backward’ conservative elements in US Catholic Church
Thursday, August 31st, 2023
Pope Francis has openly criticised what he terms the “backwardness” exhibited by certain conservative factions within the US Catholic Church. The pontiff pointed out that, in some instances, political ideology has begun to overshadow genuine faith. This can prompt a displacement of core religious values. Francis made the comments on August 5 in a private Read more
Global support for synodal way’s aims assessed
Thursday, December 8th, 2022The German bishops’ conference unveiled the initial results Wednesday of a study measuring global support for the goals of the country’s controversial “synodal way.” The study, co-funded by the bishops’ conference, is gauging the attitude of Catholics around the world toward the four main themes of the German initiative: power, the priesthood, women in the Read more
Lay role in choosing bishops hits legal ‘snag’
Thursday, November 17th, 2022
A call from Germany’s “synodal way” to give lay Catholics a clearly defined role in choosing bishops has run into problems. The Southern German Archdiocese of Bamberg says the decision seems incompatible with a concordat governing the appointment of bishops. In their document “Involvement of the faithful in the appointment of the diocesan bishop,” synodal Read more
Germans respond to Synodal Way criticisms
Monday, March 28th, 2022
The chairman of Germany’s Catholic bishops’ conference has responded to strong criticisms of the ‘Synodal Way’ by his Polish counterpart. Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Germany (pictured on the left) was answering criticisms levelled at Germany’s Synodal Way by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of Poznan, Poland (pictured on the right). Bätzing explained that the Synodal Way Read more
Change threatens some bishops
Thursday, March 24th, 2022
The Bishops’ Conference of the Nordic Countries recently wrote an open letter to the German Bishops’ Conference to voice concerns over the Synodal Path now underway in Germany. They ‘“let rip” at the Germans. The Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland Church leaders’ letter is an excellent example of one group of bishops seeing the Read more
Scandinavia’s Catholic bishops let rip at Germans
Monday, March 14th, 2022
Scandinavia’s Catholic bishops and church leaders (pictured) have let their German confreres know they don’t think much of the German Synodal Way. In their March 9 letter to the German bishops’ conference, the Nordic bishops said they appreciated that there was a “palpable need for change” in Germany. However, the issues addressed were not a Read more
Cardinal Kasper ‘very worried’ about German Church’s ‘Synodal Way’
Monday, June 14th, 2021
An influential theologian considered to be close to Pope Francis said he is “very worried” about the German Catholic Church’s controversial “Synodal Way.” Cardinal Walter Kasper the former head of the Vatican’s department for Christian unity said in a June 8 interview with the Passauer Bistumsblatt that he hoped the prayers of faithful Catholics could Read more
No threat of schism, says leading German bishop
Monday, May 10th, 2021
German Catholics are not seeking to “detach ourselves as the German national Church from Rome,” and there is no risk of schism, according to the chairman of the German Catholic bishops’ conference. Even as Catholics in Germany plan a national protest against the Vatican’s ban on blessing on same-sex couples, Bishop Georg Bätzing has insisted Read more