The Baptism occurred last Sunday at St Hedwig's Parish in the Catholic Diocese of Essen, in the Ruhr region of Western Germany.

I had no particular expectations on this issue. Still, the fact that a lay person, especially a woman, can baptise my daughter has excited my whole family," said Carolin Winkler, the young mother.

With a degree in theology, Elvira Neumann is a parish animator, bereavement support person and member of a team of three lay people who, together with a priest, are responsible for running the parish.

"In the past, I did the preparation with the families, but I had to leave the celebration itself to the deacon or the priest," she said.

"Now, I accompany the families to the end. It's a very powerful feeling and a real honour."

The Diocese of Essen is the first in Germany to allow lay people to baptise.

It is something that canon law allows in emergencies, and Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck said the priest shortage created such an emergency.

"We are reacting to a difficult pastoral situation," he explained.

The move is in line with a Vatican instruction in 2020 on the pastoral conversion of parishes.

Further south, the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart announced it would soon allow lay people to celebrate the sacrament of Baptism.

The changes in Germany are not without theological debate.

The reforms are part of the politicisation and secularisation of the Church, says Fr Joachim Heimerl.

He says this is not the way to ensure the administration of the sacraments and will likely mean priests and deacons will hardly ever baptise again.

He's predicting the laity will "seize it and defend it against the clergy."

Heimerl is also opposed to Germany's Synodal Path.

Also critical is Michael Seewald, professor of dogmatic theology at the University of Münster.

He labels the emergency measures as "fictitious".

He warns that the move could lead to a two-tier baptism where a priest would preside at a "real ceremony", and others will do it "on the cheap."

The professor is labelling the move merely as "a political symbol that is only a consolation prize and a placebo for women who cannot be ordained priests".

Catholic dioceses in Switzerland already permit lay-led baptismal services.

Source

• la-Croix International

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 way members called on cathedral chapters — which play a significant role in selecting German bishops — to work with an elected body representing "the entire people of God in the diocese".

Between them, they would determine the list of suitable candidates the chapter sends to the Vatican.

Old laws cast long shadows

Implementing the synodal way's directive has hit a few legal snags.

German dioceses are bound by different rules.

This is because individual German states signed concordats with the Holy See both before and after the unification of Germany in 1871.

As an example, Bamberg archdiocese, which was founded in the year 1007, operates under the Bavarian Concordat of 1924.

Under this, bishops and cathedral chapters submit a list of suitable candidates every three years. When a See falls vacant (as is currently the case), the chapter draws up and sends a shortlist to the pope to select a candidate from. The Bavarian state government usually rubber-stamps nominations.

"Due to the currently existing legal situation in the dioceses subject to the Bavarian Concordat, the cathedral chapter unfortunately sees no possibility of implementing the decision ... when drawing up the lists," the Bamberg archdiocese says.

While Bamberg's cathedral chapter supports giving lay people a role in principle, a change in the law will be needed before they can be included in the selection process. The chapter hopes to explore options with the local diocesan council.

Other German archdioceses, like Paderborn, operate under the Prussian Concordat of 1929. This gives its cathedral chapter a leading role in selecting a new archbishop.

However, a majority of cathedral chapter members must elect the new archbishop.

What can be done?

The synodal way text suggests cathedral chapters could voluntarily involve lay people in the process.

"Under the Church's current law and concordats, the following forms of participation are open to the diocesan people of God," the text says.

"A right of co-decision in the preparation of the list of candidates, and a right to be heard prior to the selection being made from the list of candidates.

"These two rights can be realised through a voluntary undertaking on the part of the respective cathedral chapter."

Recently, the Pope named three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican department overseeing bishops' appointments. Innovation is therefore possible, supporters say.

But the Vatican says "prior to an agreed understanding at the level of the universal Church, it would not be permissible to initiate new official structures or doctrines in the dioceses, which would represent a wound to ecclesial communion and a threat to the unity of the Church."

Source

• The Pillar

Several bishops at the September 8-11 assembly baulked at the proposal.

But Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, who is currently a member of Pope Francis' circle of top advisors (Council of Cardinals) and past president of the German Bishops' Conference (2014-2020), actually defended the motion.

The cardinal, who turns 69 next week and will soon mark the 15th anniversary of his appointment to Bavaria's most important diocese, said it was all part of the paradigm shift that German Catholics are pushing for.

Marx, who was one of the main initiators of the Synodal Path, told La Croix's Delphine Nerbollier that a key aspect of the synodal process is "to ask questions, debate, and advance the discussion".

The text on sexual morality that was presented to the synodal assembly on September 8 failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required of the bishops present.

Among other things, it proposes that homosexual couples and remarried divorcees be afforded the "blessing of God expressly promised by the Church".

How do you explain that the required two-thirds majority was not reached?

Cardinal Reinhard Marx: This text is controversial and requires further discussion within the universal Church, but it is important and we cannot put the subject aside.

It consists of a paradigm change and perspective toward sexual morality and social ethics.

It is a process. We are going to talk about it again within the episcopal conference.

I would like to point out that this text was accepted by more than 80% of the members of the synodal assembly and by 62% of the bishops.

In your opinion, what role did the press release issued by the Holy See Press Office in July play in the rejection of this text?

That's a question for each bishop to answer. I think that each one of them already had his position prior to its publication.

Some expressed themselves, others less so. During this synodal assembly, some felt a little more pressure to express themselves.

The point is that we need to be more open with each other and justify our positions. We must not only represent an opinion, but defend it.

I don't think (the Vatican) statement played a role because it didn't bring anything new to the table.

None of us wants to replace the pope, to override canon law or to rewrite the Church's dogma. What we want is to ask questions, debate, and advance the discussion. We are part of the universal Church.

We have the mission to bring to it all the elements that seem important to us.

Is it difficult for the bishops to face so many theologians and lay people in this synodal process?

In Germany we have a long tradition of having lay men and women and professors of theology, especially in the synodal committees of the dioceses.

So most bishops are used to having lay people contradict them.

But of course, not everyone likes this. Some bishops have not yet integrated the change of perspective that synodality requires. This too is a process.

How can the German Synodal Path contribute to the World Synod?

I have the impression that some in Rome and elsewhere are watching the German synodal path with some apprehension.

For example, we have received letters from bishops in Poland, the United States and the Nordic Bishops' Conference.

It is therefore important that we present texts that are theologically very well argued and worked out.

In this fourth session of the synodal journey, we adopted texts on the possibility of creating a synodal council in Germany and on the place of women in the Church, with the support of two-thirds of the bishops.

These are absolutely priority themes for the universal Church.

These texts will certainly soon be translated into several languages and may have an influence on the discussion elsewhere in the world.

• Delphine Nerbollier writes occasionally for La-Croix International.
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

"Synodality is a moment of crisis," Professor Margit Echolt from the University of Osnabrück, told Flashes of Insight.

"The issues centre around the democratisation of the Church, equality, sexual abuse, women, and young people."

"There are many people, particularly women, of my age but also the younger generation who will leave the church unless they are treated equally, are heard and engaged in the church and their parish," she said.

The point was reinforced by Emeritus Professor Paul Zulehner, from the University of Vienna, Austria, who told Flashes of Insight that laypeople, pastorally, "The People of God," are in their professional life qualified, involved and are given responsibility. Still, it is not the case with the Church.

"We need to start again with Vatican II, to open up its meaning and then change the Canon Law," he said.

While some are fighting for reform, others have given up and are walking away, he said.

Zulehner says to be faithful, Catholics rely on two main sources, biblical tradition and the Holy Spirit.

"Tradition must find shape in culture and the Holy Spirit talking through the signs of the times," he said.

Echolt agrees, saying the German church has great theological work of women and that it is time for the hidden histories of women in the Church to be on display, opened and integrated.

She believes feminist theology is a gap in the formation of future priests.

We have a lot of ‘authoritarian' people within the Church and clergy; they argue against gender ideology; These people are in the majority, and it is challenging to discuss diverse perspectives with authoritarian types, she said.

Zulehner admits he is a little pessimistic because he sees the situation as "getting worse;" open-minded people, even older Catholics, are leaving the Church, leaving an increasing proportion of traditional theological thinkers.

Professor Emeritus Thomas O'Loughlin describes the situation as "concerning," that in a synodal environment, the group leading the Church are unable to listen.

"Psychologically, they have not entered the world, and these are the people who are talking about Synodality," he says.

Zulehner says the vision of community is that, as Church, serves another, that answers a human need but also a divine need.

He believes the church will re-emerge but not as an international corporation, somewhat akin to the religious United Nations.

"The experience of the last 150 years has been an illusion," says emeritus professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham.

"The great movements towards human solidarity and the alleviation of human suffering have often come parallel to the church but inspired by the Christian message. And so, new directions, new organisations, and new human sets of human relationships will emerge, which will serve each other, serve the world, and bring us closer to God.

"They will not have the trappings of this great international corporation," he said.

Echolt says while we do not know the future, we can say that the power of Catholicism in Germany has been movements of laypeople, of women. These movements have come from within parishes and local communities.

She says Germany has a long history of young people studying theology.

However, she is concerned that today, fewer young people are studying a Master of Theology and becoming priests and pastoral workers.

Zulehner says he has great hope for the future, but the future is in this ‘secular' context.

The hope for the future is also a sense of mission, Zulehner says.

He thinks the Church needs to look at the early Church and refound it.

"We need structural reform and ensure it happens by changing the Church's Canon Law to allow full participation from the People of God."

"The Second Vatican Council told us that the Church has its place in the great drama between God and the world. It told us to look at the world and risk it".

"Look at the world that suffers many challenges now—climate challenges, the new social questions arising around digitalisation and pandemics and so on. Migration is a big challenge. As Pope Francis says, God has empathy for those suffering, so our question is what can we do?"

He said in the context of a Synodal Church, his theological hope for the future of the Church takes him back to his childhood, where he learnt that his purpose was to go to heaven as soon as possible and without sin. However, years later, a good bishop told him, "we are not Christians to go to heaven, but to bring pieces of heaven onto Earth, here and now."

Officials say at least 171 people have died since the flooding began last week. Many more are injured and 155 are missing.

Images of Germany's flooded villages and towns have prompted international aid agencies to offer compassion and concern.

Agencies including Catholic-run charities like Aid to the Church in Need, Misereor, and Caritas Internationalis are touching base with their 'related' German organisations.

Messages through them from developing countries like Cuba, Honduras, Zimbabwe and Mali show their support for one of Europe's most prosperous nations.

"This solidarity is touching and perhaps a small consolation for the people who lost loved ones as well as their belongings in the flood," says Florian Ripka, managing director of Aid to the Church in Need Germany.

She has received messages from Lebanon, Ukraine and Papua New Guinea. "Even if our project partners cannot help materially, they are close to the people with thoughts and prayers," she says.

Misereor, the German bishops' organisation for development cooperation, is receiving similar messages. "It shows us that solidarity is not a one-way street," Misereor says.

Many messages mention concern that climate-related hazards can strike with great force even in temperate zones.

The message from executive director of Caritas India, Paul Moonjely, says Germany's deadly floods are a "wake-up call" to start tackling the urgent climate problem vigorously.

He also wrote of his gratitude to Germany, saying: "People in Germany have always been helpful and willing to reach out to suffering populations around the world, especially in India."

They want to give something of this "deep feeling" back to the Germans, Moonjely's says.

Islamic associations in Germany such as the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs and the Islamic Relief asked their members for donations.

They reminded Muslims that the recent pilgrimage to Mecca and the July 19-23 observance of Eid al-Adha, the Islamic feast of sacrifice, call for mercy toward all people.

The commissioner for environmental and climate issues at the German Catholic bishops' conference, Bishop Rolf Lohmann, says the deadly floods, which have claimed more than 200 lives across Europe, are a "sign of a change in the climate and the environment."

After the heat and drought of past years, "the inconceivable catastrophe of heavy rain and floods" was an illustration of climate change, he says.

Besides immediate emergency aid, long-term measures to protect against floods were needed, Lohmann says.

His diocese in Muenster in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia sustained widespread damage.

There also is a need for "rapid and efficient action against climate change," Lohmann says.

"If we do not act decisively now, it will be too late," he explains, saying the responsibility to act falls on individuals as well as governments.

Lohmann is calling for the wider use of renewable energy, product procurement based on ecological and social criteria, reducing waste and environmentally friendly forms of transport.

He is also demanding that social equality be considered when implementing environmentally sound measures.

They must be affordable for all social groups, he stresses.

At the same time, he says it is important to adhere to ethical criteria in financial investments.

Source

• NCR
• The Scotsman

The ceremonies were, in part, a response to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's recent instruction forbidding such blessings and reiterating the Church's traditional teaching regarding marriage and homosexual acts.

Evidently, the ceremonies were performed mostly in more liberal German parishes and shunned in more conservative areas, an indication of deepening disunity. Conservative Catholic commentators praised the CDF's actions and characterized the blessings as schismatic.

But then the prefect of the CDF turned his attention to the United States.

A number of American bishops want the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to issue a statement urging that President Joe Biden be denied Communion because of his support for legal abortion and same-sex marriage.

Much to the outrage of many of the same conservative Catholics who praised the Vatican for holding firm on sexual morality, Rome threw cold water on the wisdom of such a statement.

Presumably, such a confrontational step would, like the blessing of same-sex marriages, undermine the unity of the bishops' conference and the larger Church.

It would also require approval from the pope, who has cautioned that an obsession with abortion politics divides and distracts the Church.

Conservative commentators deplored the Vatican's interference, denouncing Rome's supposed heavy hand in language one is more used to hearing from liberals.

During the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, conservative Catholics demanded complete fealty to the papacy and repeatedly urged the pope to rein in those they considered unorthodox.

The removal of the editor of America magazine, Thomas Reese, SJ, was one of the more notorious Vatican actions during those years.

But now that there's a pope with a very different style and message, conservatives have decided that many of the decisions coming from Rome warrant scepticism and resistance, not obedience.

You can call this intellectual inconsistency or hypocrisy, which in many instances it is.

But it is as common among so-called progressive Catholics as it is among conservative ones.

Predictably, there has been little criticism from progressives of the same-sex marriage blessings in Germany, even though those actions threaten the unity of the Church in the same way that the efforts of some American bishops to bar Biden from Communion do.

Whatever one's views on same-sex marriage, Catholics should be concerned that, while some find such gestures pastoral and compassionate, many others perceive them as signs of further fragmentation in the Church.

Those who work for change should recognize that how change comes about can be just as important as the change itself. Continue reading

• Paul Baumann is Commonweal's senior writer.
• Image: National Review

"Your religion is the first thing they take away from you when you come out of the closet," said Mahler, who was raised Catholic in Bavaria, Germany's largest and traditionally most Catholic state.

"It's as if when you're queer you're not allowed to be religious anymore."

But Mahler was heartened by a campaign led by priests, deacons and laity at 110 Catholic churches to bless same-sex couples, in defiance of a recent statement issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican that such blessings were "not legitimate" and that same-sex unions are "not ordered to the Creator's plan."

The public ceremonies, organized under the motto "#LiebeGewinnt" (German for "#LoveWins"), were open to "all loving couples, regardless whether they are gay, lesbian or straight." Churches across the country hung large rainbow flags and banners from bell towers and balustrades, giving the campaign a festival feel.

Pastor Bernd Mönkebüscher, a priest in the western German town of Hamm who helped initiate the campaign, said "such blessings have been around for a long time, albeit hidden and not public. Which is shameful."

"We wanted to encourage people to celebrate worthy blessing services in many places at the same time, because loving people do not have to hide and because in love they experience their partner as a ‘blessing,' a gift from heaven," he said.

"Most of the church does not understand and does not share the ‘no' from Rome," said Mönkebüscher.

Pastor Jan Korditschke, who held a blessing ceremony at his St. Canisius Church in Berlin, said the injuries that gay, lesbian and other queer believers have suffered because of the church "touched his soul."

He decided St. Canisius would take part to make amends and give his "church a friendly, credible face" among the LGBTQIA+ community.

The service itself, organized with help from the local Jesuit community and attended by over 100 worshippers, was both "touching and exhilarating" for those involved, said Korditschke.

"The evening was so successful precisely because in this service the church — like Jesus — clearly took the side of those who are discriminated against."

More than a sign of certain parishes' progressive stance on same-sex unions, the services were the latest chapter in continuing tensions between the German Catholic Church and Rome. Based on reactions within Germany, which ranged from wholehearted enthusiasm for the blessings to full-throated rebuke, the protest against the CDF's ruling won't be the last.

Defying Rome has been a theme of late in Germany.

In December 2019, the German bishops began a series of conferences known as "the Synodal Way" to debate an assortment of theological and organizational issues.

Sparked by the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, the Synodal Way has become a catchall for disquiet among German Catholics — including the Vatican's resistance to change concerning the church's relationship with same-sex couples.

The question of blessing same-sex partnerships and a "new vision for sexual morality" will be discussed as part of the Synodal Way conferences, said Mönkebüscher.

In response to the dubium statement and other overtures from Rome, more than 250 theologians have spoken out against the Vatican's negative stance on same-sex unions and 2,600 pastors have committed to continue blessing same-sex couples, according to Mönkebüscher.

Not all Catholics in Germany, however, are pleased.

Mönkebüscher said some parishes that took part in the #LoveWins campaign received anonymous letters and threats from people "who regard homosexuality as a disease and as a sin," he said.

German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect emeritus of the CDF, called on Pope Francis to "intervene" and "correct clerics who have attempted to bless same-sex unions, or encouraged such attempts."

At St. Canisius and other Berlin churches, protesters gathered outside during the blessing services, with signs that read "God does not bless sin."

Online, the reaction has been even more vociferous.

The far-right protest site "Patriot Petition" rallied German-speaking Catholics in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to sign a petition opposing what they said was an attack on "Western Christian values."

Elsewhere, conservative commentator Birgit Kelle wrote in the German weekly Focus that the blessings illustrated how "the LGBT scene and intersectional feminism have now invaded the church."

Even the reaction from the president of the German Bishops' Conference, or DBK, Bishop Georg Bätzing, who is generally seen as a progressive moderate, was ambivalent.

Although he said he was "not happy" with the Vatican's choice to weigh in on the debate over blessings for same-sex couples, he also said that the #LoveWins initiative was "not a useful sign or a way forward."

The blessings, he said, are "not a suitable tool for political-ecclesial demonstrations or acts of protest."

Bätzing called for more "substantive discussion" and "a reevaluation of homosexual unions and a further development of the church's sexual morality."

Elsewhere, the bishops have shown their ambivalence in the church's relationship with LGBTQ Germans.

Earlier in May, the DBK refused to award the Catholic Children's and Young People's Book Prize to Elisabeth Steinkellner's nominated novel, "Paper Piano," because one of the protagonist's friends is transgender.

And while the #LoveWins campaign is a move in the right direction, said Alexander Görlach, a religion scholar who is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, the church's broader stance on homosexuality is one of many matters that put the church out of step with contemporary European culture.

Even a radical reimagining of sexual morals in the church, he said, cannot stem its disconnect with German society at large and its inevitable decline.

"Since the end of World War II, Catholic Mass attendance has declined," he said. "In the 1990s we still had a Mass attendance of around 20-25%. Now it's down to 10-13%.

"You can do the math on how long there will be religious Catholic life in Germany," said Görlach. "Most people just live their lives and will not be bothered anymore."

Despite his pessimistic outlook, Görlach is watching to see how the German hierarchy responds to the #Love Wins campaign. "It now comes down to the bishops, who need to choose whether they sanction priests" who participated, he said.

"Priests bless elevators and motorway entrances. So there should be a chance to bless human beings that want to express their love for one another," said Görlach.

• Ken Chitwood is an author at Religion News Service.
• First published by RNS. Republished with permission.

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 that the protestors "are not schismatics".

"Our bond with Rome and the Holy Father is very tight," said Bätzing, just days before the May 10 protest.

The nationwide protest event was organised after Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) made a decree stating that Church does not have the power to bless homosexual unions.

German Church leaders say the Vatican's ban on such blessings is unchristian because it openly excludes people based on their sexual orientation.

The CDF document was discussed at the country's ongoing "Synodal Way", which expressed disagreement.

Bishop Bätzing said blessing same-sex couples was one of many topics discussed at the Synodal Way's forum on sexual morality.

The multi-year process brings together bishops and lay people to discuss four main topics: the way power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women.

The 60-year bishop said that the German Church started the "Synodal Way" in response to the clerical abuse and plummeting membership.

Record numbers of German Catholics have left the Church in recent years, with 272,771 people formally deserting it in 2019.

Bishops and cardinals outside of Germany have been increasingly critical of the debates in the country.

Retired Cardinals Camillo Ruini of Italy and George Pell of Australia are among those who have raised concern about the Synodal Way, which they fear is leading to a "de facto schism".

"There is a percentage of the German Church that seems to be resolutely heading in the wrong direction," said Pell, who currently resides in Rome.

Bishop Bätzing also commented on the debate in Germany over whether Protestants should be invited to receive Holy Communion in Catholic churches.

The Limburg bishop said that the current debate was not about a general invitation to Protestants to receive Communion, but rather about the Church's approach to individual non-Catholic Christians who wish to receive the Eucharist.

He said: "I personally respect such a decision and do not deny Communion when someone presents themselves who believes what we Catholics believe and desires to receive the Lord."

Sources

• La Croix International
• Catholic News Agency
• CathNews NZ Pacific

"I hope with all my heart that there will not be any schism, and I pray for this," Ruini told the Il Foglio newspaper.

His comments come in response to Catholic pastoral workers nationwide planned mass-blessing event in 56 cities on May 10 in defiance of the Vatican ruling.

Ruini, Rome's former Vicar General, and President of the Italian Bishops conference for 16 years says that in 2019 Pope Francis asked German Catholics "to keep a connection with the universal Church".

"These words of the pope offer a standard and a valuable direction," Ruini said.

"I do not deny, therefore, that there is a risk of schism, but I trust that, with God's help, it can be overcome."

"I would like to emphasize the strength of this position: it is not just a question of something that the Church has decided not to do, but of something that the Church cannot do. Consequently, no one in the Church has this power," Ruini said.

However, organizers of the planned mass-blessing hope that same-sex couples across Germany will support their initiative, known as "blessing services for lovers."

The organiser's move comes in response to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that issued a decree banning same-sex blessings justified its position, saying: "God does not bless sin," and calling homosexual unions intrinsically disordered. (See discussion at FlashesInsight.com)

Former Sydney Cardinal, and Vatican finance officer, George Pell also joined the discussion.

Labelling the situation in Germany "ominous" he called on the German bishops to fulfil their duty and to uphold the teachings of Scripture.

"I think that there is a percentage of the German Church that seems to be resolutely heading in the wrong direction," Pell said in an interview with Colm Flynn that aired on EWTN April 27.

"By that, I mean it is quite clear that a liberalised Christianity, whether it is a liberalised Catholicism or Protestantism, in a generation or so merges into agnosticism. … If you adopt the policies of the world and just go along so that they approve, nobody is going to be interested in that."

"The duty of the German bishops is to uphold the teachings of Scripture, to uphold the teachings of the Church. We stand under those teachings. They've got no power to change them - none of us do," said Pell.

The president of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, has criticized the upcoming Catholic-backed planned mass-blessing initiative saying blessings should not be used as a political statement.

Sources

• CNA
• CNA
• CathNews NZ

"For many Vatican officials, the German Catholic Church smells Protestant," Bishop Georg Bätzing said in an online round table discussion.

This did not apply "to top level Vatican officials like prefects [of congregations]", he clarified.

Rather, he said concerns were for Roman officials who had no experience of the German Church. "It makes their hair stand on end or they get goose bumps," he suggested.

Bätzing said the underlying reason for the officials' fear of the German Church's reform was their awareness of how difficult it was to maintain unity between the many different cultures in the Catholic Church.

"However, one can also endanger church unity by fostering certain elements that are ill-suited for a multi-cultural world in a culturally diverse era," Bätzing warned.

He recalled that Pope Francis had repeatedly said decisions concerning doctrine and canon law must be arrived at from the periphery and that the Church could not be governed centrally.

"That is the route we are trying take," he explained.

Three weeks before Germany's third Ecumenical Kirchentag, Bätzing said he wanted to promote further unity with the German Protestant Church.

"We want to take further steps towards unity", he explained at the online round table. Others participating in the discussion included the chairman of the German Protestant Church (EKD), Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm.

The Kirchentag would clarify this he said, during the Protestant celebrations of the Lord's Supper and the Catholic celebrations of the Eucharist.

"Protestants who come up to [Catholic] communion will be able to receive communion," he said.

Anyone whose conscience told them that it was Jesus Christ who was inviting them to partake of the Eucharist, would not be "turned away," he explained.

This understanding of the Eucharist "is being practised all over the country" and is "actually nothing new", Bätzing said.

The new part of this is that it is now being spoken about. Bätzing said he does "not expect Rome to object."

He has repeatedly said he would give individual Protestants the Eucharist if they sought it.

While a general invitation to receive the Catholic Eucharist is not permitted, it is important to show respect for the personal decision of conscience of a person who seeks communion, he said.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image:Angelus News
  

Cardinal Reinhard Marx says he wrote to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, declining to accept Germany's only federal decoration.

He was scheduled to receive the Federal Cross of Merit at Berlin's Bellevue Palace today, April 30.

In his letter to Steinmeier, Marx said he was convinced declining the honour was the right step.

He explained his move was in consideration of those "obviously offended by the award and especially ...the survivors [of sexual abuse],".

Furthermore, he didn't want to draw negative attention to other award recipients or the office of the Federal President, he said.

"The criticism that is now being expressed by people who are affected by sexual abuse in the area of ​​the Church, I take very seriously, regardless of the accuracy of the individual statements in open letters and in the media."

In an open letter to Steinmeier, a member of the Affected Persons Advisory Board of Cologne archdiocese urged Steinmeier to withhold the honour.

Peter Bringmann-Henselder - himself a recipient of the Order of Merit with Star for his work on behalf of abuse survivors, said he would hand back his own medal if the award to Marx went ahead.

If Marx were to receive the Federal Cross of Merit, it would call "everything into question for which we fight and work," he wrote.

"Otherwise, everyone who has already been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for their services to the victims of sexualized violence should return it, as it will lose its actual value, the honor of a meritorious activity, when it is awarded to Cardinal Marx."

Bringmann-Henselder added that he has the support of other Affected Persons Advisory Board members.

"We do not understand how you can award Cardinal Marx the Federal Cross of Merit, a man who is still criticized for not having consistently investigated cases of sexualized violence in his former diocese of Trier and who is accused of covering up cases in that context."

As archbishop of Munich and Freising, Marx had so far failed to publish a 2010 report on cases of sexualized violence in the archdiocese, Bringmann-Henselder continued.

This contrasts, he commented, to the Archdiocese of Cologne's 800-page Gercke Report, which was issued in March this year.

Marx has not responded directly to Bringmann-Henselder's letter's claims about the 2010 report.

The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is reportedly planning to publish a new study documenting cases of sexualized violence between 1945 and 2019.

Marx says he hopes his decision not to receive the honour would show "that further processing and, if possible, healing in the area of ​​sexual abuse in Church and society remains an important concern for me."

Source

• Catholic World Report
• Image: DW

Bishop Georg Bätzing said it was necessary to respect the "personal decision of conscience" of those seeking to receive Communion.

CNA Deutsch reported that Bätzing responded to a question about a controversial proposal for a "Eucharistic meal fellowship" between Catholics and Protestants.

The proposal was made by the Ecumenical Study Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians (ÖAK) in a 2019 document entitled "Together at the Lord's Table."

The ÖAK adopted the text under the co-chairmanship of Bätzing and the retired Lutheran Bishop Martin Hein.

Asked how he would respond if a Protestant came to him seeking the Eucharist, he told reporters: "I have no problems with it and I see myself in line with papal documents."

The 59-year-old bishop added that this was already a "practice" in Germany "every Sunday". He said priests in his Diocese of Limburg would not face negative consequences if a case were reported to him.

He underlined that one should not "simply invite everyone."

A general invitation to receive the Eucharist was not permitted. But Bätzing said it was important to show "respect for the personal decision of conscience of the individual" seeking Communion.

"I do not deny Holy Communion to a Protestant if he asks for it," he said.

The ÖAK document raised concerns at the Vatican. It prompted an intervention by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in September 2020.

In a letter to Bätzing, the doctrinal congregation emphasized that significant differences in understanding of the Eucharist and ministry remained between Protestants and Catholics.

"The doctrinal differences are still so important that they currently rule out reciprocal participation in the Lord's Supper and the Eucharist," it said.

"The document cannot therefore serve as a guide for an individual decision of conscience about approaching the Eucharist."

The CDF cautioned against any steps towards intercommunion between Catholics and members of the EKD.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

National Catholic Reporter

CathNews New Zealand

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

The reason, she points out is that people are leaving the church in droves — including her own children.

Many women share her experience of seeing their children turn their backs on the church. In response, they have come together to form a movement called "Maria 2.0."

Many of them are among the traditional church faithful: women who are the backbone of Catholic parishes across Germany. They raised their sons and daughters giving them a spiritual home, guiding them through important sacraments.

More recently, though, they have been confronted by daughters and grand-daughters choosing to leave the church — a church they see as unrelentingly male-dominated.

"Even women who, thirty years ago and more, were vehemently opposed to everything associated with feminism are now giving their backing to 'Maria 2.0,'" Monika Schmelter tells DW. The 64-year-old, who even spent a number of years in a convent when she was young, is now a 'Maria 2.0' spokeswoman. "Something is going on," she is convinced.

The movement is being seen as a serious and radical challenge to male authority in the church.

It began in January 2019 in a small parish in the north-western city of Münster, where women who felt that for too long they had been marginalized within the church went on what they called a church "strike."

What that meant in practice is that they refused to enter the church building, no longer helped in the sacristy, and eventually began praying together outside the church itself. It was not long before Lisa Kötter, one of the founders of the movement, was getting inquiries from all over Germany, as well as from Austria and Switzerland.

And when they held their first "Week of Action" in May 2019, she was astonished to see, "hundreds of groups from German-speaking countries — tens of thousands of people —- taking part." Even women from other continents wanted to know more about what was going on. The next step was to be a national conference. But the coronavirus pandemic put an end to that.

"Power-driven church in the grip of fear "

At the end of September, Lisa Kötter appeared on a prime-time nationwide TV news broadcast in Germany, where she criticized what she termed, "a power-driven church in the grip of fear."

"Jesus," she argued," never ordained a man as a priest. And he certainly never founded a purely Roman church." If the church were willing, at least to an extent, to change its patriarchal structures, and "treat women equally" then it could become a truly global church that would be able to do much more to support women across the world, "who are really suffering because of patriarchal structures."

Kötter also highlighted the disappointment and disillusionment of "true women of faith who, despite their very best efforts, are failing to persuade their children and grand-children not to lose interest in this male-dominated church." Continue reading

Where there were 594 candidates in 2011, this has whittled to just 211 at present, says Heinrich Timmerevers, Bishop of Dresden-Meissen.

The decline in candidate numbers has had Germany's Catholic bishops considering ways of streamlining the formation of priests.

Timmerevers, who co-chairs the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) working group, proposes concentrating formation in only three cities: Mainz, Munich and Münster.

Preparatory courses would be held in Freiburg and Bamberg, and pastoral training would be divided between Paderborn, Erfurt, Rottenburg-Stuttgart and a city in Bavaria that has yet to be decided.

This would reduce the 20 places of instruction to nine.

"The reform would do away with long-established structures," Timmerevers says.

"But new approaches are needed to prepare priests for their future professional challenges. It will be difficult to satisfy everyone."

Discontent with the proposal has riled many, especially in dioceses that do not figure in the new set-up.

This is true for the city of Erfurt for instance, which was part of the old East Germany. Despite cooperating with five other dioceses, it's formation center would also be eliminated in the new plan.

Thirty years after the fall of the Wall, closing the formation centre in the former East German city of Erfurt is not an encouraging sign of solidarity for the former GDR," complained Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg.

"Moreover, the theological faculties would benefit from drawing inspiration from the curriculum of the Diocese of Erfurt."

"We are carrying out our mission of evangelization in the region of Germany where secularization is strongest, with more than 80% of the population having no connection with religion," said.

"Our experience is therefore important in helping priests to familiarize themselves with the development of society," argued the 68-year-old bishop, a former theology professor at Erfurt.

Universities also say they're concerned.They fear the loss of seminaries and houses of formation would impoverish all teaching of theology.

There are also teachers of religion courses, which contribute to strengthening inter-religious dialogue.

"Catholic theology must be kept present throughout the university landscape, in as many places and in as many regional and societal contexts as possible," one university professor says.

Meanwhile, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, head of the German bishops' conference, is pointing out the seminary proposal is only a prelude to discussion. No decision has yet been set in stone, he says.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: La Croix

After meeting with Francis on Saturday, Bätzing said he felt "strengthened by the intensive exchange with the Holy Father to continue on the path we have taken.

"The pope appreciates this project, which he associates closely with the concept of ‘synodality' which he coined."

"It was a matter of concern to me to make it clear that the Church in Germany is following this path and always knows that she is bound to the universal Church."

Bätzing traveled to the Vatican on Saturday, the day after figures were released showing the Catholic Church in Germany lost a record number of members in 2019.

The statistics showed 272,771 people left the Church last year. In 2018, 216,078 people left the Church in Germany.

In Bätzing's diocese of Limburg, 9,439 people left the Church in 2019 - 1,459 more than in 2018.

"We must find answers to urgent challenges facing the Church, ranging from coming to terms with sexual abuse of minors to the dramatic numbers of people leaving the Church," Bätzing said on Saturday.

Bätzing says a 28-page letter Francis wrote this time last year to "the pilgrim people of God of the Church in Germany encouraged them and gave indications ... he will continue to accompany us attentively."

The letter was prompted by the German bishops' decision to launch a two-year synodal way. This would bring together lay people and bishops to discuss four main topics: the way power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women.

The German bishops initially said the process would end with a series of "binding" votes. This raised concerns at the Vatican that the resolutions might challenge the Church's teaching and discipline.

In his letter, Francis suggested synodal way participants faced a particular "temptation."

"At the basis of this temptation, there is the belief that the best response to the many problems and shortcomings that exist is to reorganize things, change them and ‘put them back together' to bring order and make ecclesial life easier by adapting it to the current logic or that of a particular group," he wrote.

Other topics Bätzing and Francis discussed in their private audience included the situation of the Church in Germany, the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The first synodal assembly took place in Frankfurt at the end of January. The second meeting is expected to go ahead despite the pandemic in September.

Francis urged the synodal way and the German Church to be attentive to the poor, the elderly, refugees and others in need, according to a press statement issued by the German Bishops' Conference after Bätzing's audience.

Francis also "specifically asked that the implications and experiences of the coronavirus pandemic be considered as we continue to move forward," says Bätzing.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Catholic News Agency

So far more than 107 people tested positive for the virus, six of whom have been taken to hospital.

Those at the service followed social distancing rules and disinfected the building ahead of the service.

Each of Germany's 16 states determines its own lockdown exit plans. Hesse, where Frankfurt located, relaxed restrictions on worship on 1 May. However, they must follow official social distancing and hygiene rules.

These rules expect those attending services to stay 1.5m apart and to be provided with hand sanitiser.

"This situation shows how important it is that all of us stay alert and avoid becoming careless, especially now during the easing of restrictions. The virus is still there and will spread," Hesse state health minister Kai Klose said.

He said authorities hoped that identifying those who attended the Baptist church service would help prevent others being infected.

It is not clear how many of the 107 people who have tested positive for the virus attended the service, or whether the tally includes people who were infected by those who did. One report suggests about 40 of those infected were at the service, though this has not been confirmed yet.

At least 16 of the people infected lived in Hanau, east of Frankfurt. As a result, the town has called off a prayer gathering that Muslim leaders had organised for this Sunday.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 178,281, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The Institute also reported the death toll has risen from 8216 to 8,247.

Source

• BBC
• US News
• Image: NewsHub

Everyone attending services must wear masks and stay apart from each other. No singing is permitted.

As well as extra hygiene requirements, members of the congregation have to sit in designated seats 1.5 meters apart.

All physical contact is forbidden, including the "sign of peace' where people would usually shake hands with those around them during the Mass.

To receive communion, floor markings have been laid out to avoid people coming too close to each other.

From Wednesday this week, Cologne Cathedral, will hold public services once more.

Although it is Europe's biggest church , only 122 people will be able to attend services at any one time.

While some people think reopening the churches could have a negative effect on the COVID-19 infection rate, many top religious figures welcomed the move.

This is a "positive sign for the faithful that religious freedom and infection prevention can work together in harmony," said German Catholic Prelate Karl Justen.

Jewish synagogues will also slowly reopen, with German Jewish Central Council President Josef Schuster saying "People need stability and trust in their religions, especially in the current situation."

Mosques in Germany willalso reopen, holding their first public prayers on 9 May.

Muslims are currently fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, a time of year usually marked by frequent visits to the mosque and public meetings with friends and famili

Source

1. DW
2. Image: Fine Art America

Some German bishops have spoken in favour of abandoning the celibacy requirement for priests and vaulting women into leadership roles now off-limits.

Some have urged updating the religion's stern sexual morality, saying the church can't afford to be out of touch or alienating. Earlier this year, one bishop spoke so understandingly of homosexuality that a 53-year-old priest in a nearby town came out as gay and thanked the bishop for opening the door.

"The old times are over," that bishop, Franz-Josef Overbeck, of Essen, had written to the members of his diocese, saying that his own views were evolving amid the church's "dramatic loss of credibility and trust."

But as Germany tests the boundaries of how much Catholicism can bend to the modern age, it is emerging as a center of tension within the divided global church.

Much of the concern originates in the United States, where some traditionalist bishops, along with Catholic conservative media outlets, are opposed to Pope Francis's advocacy for a more inclusive faith.

They say Francis is diluting moral teaching, pushing an anti-capitalist, pro-migrant agenda, and sowing confusion about what the church stands for. And Germany, they say, is a country whose appetite for change threatens to outpace that of the pontiff himself.

"The German bishops continue [to] move toward schism from the universal Church," Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila said recently on Twitter.

Others conservative higher-ups have warned that developments in Germany could coerce changes in global Catholicism that should instead be guided by the Vatican.

But German prelates and other church leaders, in interviews with The Washington Post, said they see a different risk: that their reforms won't go far enough.

These leaders have watched as more than 100,000 Germans leave the Catholic Church every year. They recognize that the sexual abuse crisis has intensified the discontent.

A report released last year found systematic sex crimes and coverup going back seven decades in Germany.

With the hope of making the church more relevant to people's lives, German bishops have finalized plans for a two-year program of meetings that begins in December and aims to reexamine some of the church's most contentious positions and teachings, including its restrictions on female leaders and its stance on sexuality.

The agenda goes much further than a just-concluded Vatican synod, at which bishops recommended allowing married deacons to become priests in the Amazon region.

"Do we want to be a closed church or one that embraces life and culture?" the bishop of Osnabrück, Franz-Josef Bode, said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Catholics in Germany have long been known for their liberal leanings.

That comes partly from the influence of Protestantism, even centuries after Reformation.

It also comes from newer factors: post-Cold War freedoms, protests from women's groups, emptying seminaries, the reform demands of large and deep-pocketed lay Catholic organizations.

Gregor Maria Hoff, a theologian who is consulting with the bishops on their meetings and is in favour of significant changes, said that "nine or 10" of Germany's 69 bishops have become forcefully liberal in recent years.

Even a handful of the country's conservative bishops — schooled in the mode of traditionalist Pope Benedict XVI, Germany's most famous modern Catholic — have moved to favour reforms.

Only a few German prelates, most notably Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne, have been critical of the country's plans.

"People from the old system saw it was broken," Hoff said. "To be honest, this might be the last chance to change it." Continue reading

The figures were published in a bishops' conference brochure, "The Catholic Church in Germany: Facts and Figures 2018/19", presented in Bonn on 8 August.

"This work aid shows a vibrant community which is trying to discern "the signs of the times" and "to adjust its actions accordingly", bishops' conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx says in the foreword before admitting the Church is going through "stormy times". Read more