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 this way the Church will be able "to be able to rebuild trust" in the institution, the leaders of five of Germany's largest Catholic organisations said in a joint statement.

The organisations are the: German Catholic Youth Federation; German Catholic Workers' Movement; German Catholic Women's Association; Catholic Women's Association of Germany; German Kolping Society.

The leaders of all five organisations are stressing the need for "an evangelisation which reaches people and conveys to them that the Good News and a life of faith can be enriching."

Beyond this, they say it is necessary for the German Church to continue unfailingly along its Synodal Path.

The German Church committed to the Synodal Path in 2019. Its multi-year plan aims to critically examine Church structures.

Of particular interest are issues concerning compulsory clerical celibacy, the marginalisation of women, strict sexual morality and the harsh exercise of power and authority. All these issues have been implicated as contributors to clergy sex abuse.

In June 2019 Pope Francis wrote a letter to Catholics in Germany on the Synodal Path.

He said he shared their "concerns for the future of the Church in Germany."

He said he recognised this "turning point in history" raises "new and old questions" on Church life "in the face of which a debate is justified and necessary."

Rather than viewing the Pope's criticism of the Synodal Path negatively, the German Catholic associations said the Pope's letter contained "orienting and encouraging" motivation.

They say he was encouraging them to work to make the Church "a strong spiritual and pastoral force which communicates the gospel into society and proclaims it in a credible way."

That goal of the Pope's "requires a spiritual orientation, theological expertise, a new way of listening to one another and open dialogue," they added.

The Catholic groups say the reason the German Church set out on the Synodal Path was triggered by a 2018 MHG Study.

In this university researchers that found 3,677 children and young people were abused by 1,670 clerics between 1946-2014.

The huge number of cases of priestly pedophilia underlines the urgent need for change in the Church that must be "at the centre of the Synodal Path."

The Path must also take account of "pandemic-related developments in Church life," the association says.

They closed their statement with a reminder of what the more than 1.5 million German Catholics they represent "expect".

They expect the topics and questions raised by the findings of the MHG Study "will be seriously taken up, discussed and decided upon" in the Synodal Path.

Source

• Novena
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

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, with commentary, last week, The Tablet reported.

The idealised family image does not adequately relate to the reality of life in German society, the criticism noted.

Many of those who replied said that idealising marriage and the family not only did not appeal to Catholics in Germany but, on the contrary, put them off sacramental church marriage.

That is why many German Catholics would like to see definite steps taken before the October synod to overcome the gulf between family life as it is really lived and Church teaching.

The questionnaire had not found an "appreciative language for relationships which neither corresponded to the Church's ideals nor were definitely orientated towards marriage and the family", the bishops' report stated.

The German faithful were not satisfied with the Church's present teaching concerning remarried divorcees, "mixed" marriages and register office marriages.

Concrete changes from the Church concerning all three are expected by the faithful, the report noted.

"A pastoral approach which only sees such relationships as sinful and calls for repentance is not helpful as it contradicts the positive experiences which such couples have", the bishops' report stated.

German Catholics above all want to see remarried divorcees allowed to receive the sacraments under certain conditions.

"The expectation that the synod will open new pastoral possibilities is very high indeed", the report stated.

In a separate report, the German bishops' conference released the results of a survey that found 54 per cent of the country's Catholic priests go to Confession no more than once a year.

Only 58 per cent of German priests report that they pray every day.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Catholic World News
• Image: Antrim Parish

"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 Freiburg in a news article published by the Catholic News Service.

"We're not the only archdiocese seeking helpful solutions to this problem, and we've had positive reactions from other dioceses in Germany and abroad, assuring us they already practice what's written in our guidelines," he said.

Eberle's comments followed the disclosure by Bishop Gebhard Furst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart Nov. 23 that the bishops' would adopt proposals on reinstating divorced and remarried parishioners as full members of the church during their March plenary.

Fuerst told a meeting of lay Catholics earlier that the bishops had already drafted reform guidelines and aimed to approve them at their next plenary meeting in March.

Readmitting twice-married Catholics to full membership in the Church is a pressing concern for Pope Francis, who has called a special synod of bishops next October to consider ways to do this despite Catholicism's rejection of divorce.

Fuerst was the most explicit of several German bishops to rebuff Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Vatican doctrinal office, who last month ruled out any change after Freiburg archdiocese in Germany unveiled its own reform proposals.

Catholics who divorce and remarry in a civil ceremony are barred from receiving communion under Vatican doctrine that applies to the worldwide Church. Many of them see this as a sign of rejection and drift away from the faith.

Sources

Catholic News Service
National Catholic Reporter
Reuters
Image: Reuters

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 it depends on the character of the events planned," said Bishop Gerhard Feige, the top Catholic official dealing with Protestants.

In a statement for the Protestant Reformation Day holiday on Wednesday, Feige said Catholics consider the division of the western Church as a tragedy "and - at least until now - do not think they can celebrate this merrily."

The Reformation began in 1517 when German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door to denounce corruption in the Catholic Church, especially the sale of indulgences to help build the lavish new Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Excommunicated by Rome, he won support from German princes who soon battled others who remained Catholic. The ensuing wars of religion killed about a third of Germany's population over the next century and spread to neighboring countries as well.

After Luther's break with Rome, dissent spread and thousands of new denominations eventually emerged, the largest being the Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists and Lutherans.

Luther is also a major cultural figure in Germany thanks to his pioneering translation of the Bible.

Commemorative church services, concerts and conferences leading up to 2017 are already underway around Germany.

Reuters said the mix of religious, cultural and commercial activities led Feige to ask what the Catholics were being invited to join.

"Many initiatives and plans may well be justified, but it's not always easy to find out what 2017 will be all about," he wrote in what he called his "Ten Catholic Theses".

"It would be good if the Protestants would work out some points more clearly," he said.

Sources

• Reuters
• Christian Post
• Image: Theological Matters

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 registered Catholics, Protestants and Jews with their monthly returns and distributes them to the religious communities.

"Whoever wants to officially leave a religious community that is registered as a statutory corporation cannot limit this withdrawal to the statutory corporation and remain a member of the faith community," said the country's top appeals court in such issues.

The Church hailed the verdict as confirmation of its tax rule, which the bishops reconfirmed last week with a decree saying members who opted out of the tax could not receive sacraments, work in the Church or have a religious burial.

"The Church is a community of faith that exists in Germany in the form of a statutory corporation - they cannot be separated," Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the bishops' conference, said after the verdict was announced.

The legal challenge to the tax began in 2007 when a retired professor of canon law told his local tax authority that he wanted to quit the institutional Catholic Church and stop paying its tax, but continue to practice the religion.

If the Leipzig court had ruled against the Church, it could have prompted a wave of departures from the religions that charge the tax, which amounts to 8 or 9 percent of earnings, the report said.

The German church levy was introduced in 1803 in compensation for the nationalisation of religious property.

In 2011, the Catholic Church received 5bn euros (£4bn; $6.4bn) and the Protestant Church 4.5bn euros from taxpayers, each adding up to the bulk of the churches' income, the BBC reported.

Sources

• BBC
• Reuters/Chicago Tribune
• Image: Reuters

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 go to confession, join the celebration of the Eucharist, receive the sacrament of confirmation or the anointing of the sick - unless the patient's life is in danger.

The new decree takes effect on Monday.

Germany has had a system in place since the 19th century asking residents to either officially declare their religion and pay a church tax, or to be classed as "non-religious."

A change in status from being a member of a religion requires a formal procedure to "leave the Church," as an increasing number of Germans have done, mostly from the Catholic Church but also from the Protestant faith, the Agence France Presse reported.

The tax amounts to between eight and 10 percent of income tax, depending on where the person lives.

Although the new decree permits a religious marriage for anyone who has left the Church, it stipulates two conditions - an approval from the local religious authorities and a promise to keep the faith and uphold the religious education of any children in the Catholic faith.

However, the bishops' decree said "if the person who has left the Church has not displayed any regret before their death, a religious burial may be refused."

A progressive Catholic movement reacted angrily to the move.

"It's a bad decree coming at a bad time," the "We Are Church" ("Wir Sind Kirche") group said in a statement. "Instead of tackling the reasons for Church-leaving in large numbers, this bishops' decree is a threat to the people of the Church and is not going to motivate people to remain loyal or to join the community of those who pay their church tax," it said.

Sources

• AFP/Inquirer
• BBC News
• RTE News
• Image: dw.de