The German Catholic Church challenges the pope with a renewal agenda

The German Catholic Church launched this weekend a powerful challenge to Pope Francis and the Vatican. After a two-day closed-door meeting over the weekend, twenty or so German bishops signed a letter to Pope Francis in which they announced that they would continue their "synodal path", which was the first time they had been in the country. that is, the debate on internal reform. who believe urgently in the Church, without waiting for the permission of the Pontiff or the Vatican. The challenge comes from the progressive German Church, which deals with issues such as priestly celibacy, the consecration of women priests and the revision of the badual morality of the Church. Nothing less. The aforementioned "synodal process" has already been launched and will continue despite formal objections from Rome.

Last weekend, behind closed doors, the German Bishops and representatives of the Catholic Central Committee of the Laity met to agree on the voting rules of the "synodal process". This system of voting and the fixing of majorities to make binding decisions must then be ratified by a plenary badembly of the German Bishops' Conference, as provided by the bishops in their letter to the pope. But the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, wrote a letter on September 4 to the President of the German Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, warning him that the draft statute of the synodal process and its Voting procedures "are not in phase" with the universal Church. That is to say with Rome and canon law.

During the synodal process, very controversial topics will be debated. Many Catholics waited in vain for years: priestly celibacy, the consecration of women priests and the revision of the badual morality of the Church. When the pope asked them not to lose sight of the unity of the Church, they replied that they would not lose sight of "nor the unity of the Church neither the reality on the ground.The Church is not there only for itself ", they were the words of Reinhard Marx, determined to follow the synodal path as a" spiritual process ". The Germans demand a renewal that saves the Church from its crisis, unleashed by the endless scandals of badual abuse against minors. Obviously, they are not satisfied with the measures taken by Francisco so far.

Letter of Rome

In his letter, Cardinal Marc Ouellet warned the German bishops that they "have no decision-making power over issues" that would only be addressed at the level of "the universal Church," noting that the voting processes that they plan to adopt are not in accordance with canon law.

These voting processes, however, took place at the meeting this weekend, but this should still be ratified by the plenary of the German Bishops' Conference. "We need to regain self-confidence to speak credibly about our faith," justified the president of the Catholic Central Committee of Germany (ZdK), Thomas Sternberg, a lay badociation that actively participates in the process.

The reports of the four preparatory forums were also approved: power, priestly life, badual morality and the role of women. Apart from the question of women, the rest had already been studied by the German prelates last March, and it became clear that most German bishops regard the status quo as unsustainable. At the end of August, the statute governing the synodal process by secret ballot was voted. Result: 21 votes in favor, 3 against and 3 abstentions. Although some German bishops are not in favor of a reform of the proposed field of application, the truth is that the opening of the synodal path was unanimously adopted by the Episcopal Conference. 39, Bishop of Würzburg, Franz Jung, showed understanding with the impatience of women with the Church. He was referring to the complaints made by the Association of German Catholic Women (KDFB), which had called for the synodal process to take into account the changes they deemed necessary and the way in which "gender justice can to improve practices that do not work just established centuries ago, "in reference to the consecration of the woman. For the Archbishop of Hamburg, Stefan Hebe, the Church must "leave his comfort zone" while affirming that "the synodal way should not contribute to the division, but promote the unity. there is internal discussion in the Church This is something we already know and it is normal, it is a mistaken belief that there is always total harmony in the Church ", she said. -he explains. ZdK President Thomas Sternberg downplayed the process. "Nobody will seriously believe that women will be ordained priests next year," he said, while acknowledging that "no one can stop" the debate. "The times when bishops and laity were relentless are over," said Sternberg.