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 by synodal participants.

The 308-page document "Who Becomes a Priest?" - presented jointly by the German Bishops' Conference and Bochum's Center for Applied Pastoral Research - found that 25.7% of priests thought women should be ordained priests.

A further 29.6% supported the abolition of priestly celibacy, 30.3% called for greater democratisation of the Church, and 36.8% agreed with the statement that "the participation of lay people should be increased, lay people should be given more power."

Read More

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, Eichstätt's Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke, Passau's Bishop Stefan Oster, and Regenburg's Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer.

They signaled their intention in June when they vetoed plans for the committee to be paid for using a fund which Germany's diocesan bishops control.

Four others had engagements elsewhere.

The synodal way

Germany's synodal way meetings ended formally in March.

Its committee intended a permanent "synodal council" of 74 bishops and lay people to be established in 2026.

However Rome objected to synodal council plans back in January.

It would undermine the role of bishops, according to the Second Vatican Council teachings.

No bishop was obliged to take part in the committee's deliberations, the Vatican said.

Meeting went ahead

The inaugural synodal committee meeting was "scheduled deliberately" to follow the synod on synodality's first Vatican session.

President of the German bishops' conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing and most other invitees attended the planned meeting.

Addressing the four boycotters' absence, Bätzing said: "We have known for a long time that even among us bishops our images of the Church and the future are very different. I want to expressly say that this is good.

"We have to fight for the future of the Church and the question of the right path has accompanied the Church since its beginnings; the letters from the New Testament are full of these disputes..."

The meeting expected to feature sensitive discussions about the body's statutes and rules of procedure.

Debate was anticipated, focusing on whether synodal committee meetings should be open to the public like the synodal way's plenary assemblies.

Discussion time was earmarked to decide whether the committee should continue insisting two-thirds of bishops must approve resolutions.

The Central Commission of German Catholics (ZdK) favours public meetings. It wants decisions to require only a two-thirds majority of all committee members.

Change needed

ZdK leader Irme Stetter-Karp alluded to the record numbers of German Catholics formally leaving the Church. Change needs to happen soon, she warned.

"Given the challenges we have also faced in recent months, I can only note with regret that in the eyes of those who are leaving the Church we are moving too slowly."

Referring to Pope Francis' 1 November motu proprio calling for a "paradigm shift" in theology, she said:

"We need the turning point that Pope Francis calls for ... starting from theology for the entire Church...it is time to ‘interpret the present prophetically and seek new paths for the future.' That's what we're here for."

The four bishops' decision to block funds for the synodal committee "shows how urgently we need changes in the decision-making structures" she commented.

Bätzing, who attended the Rome assembly, said: "There must be and can be different ways of structuring synodality at different levels and in different regions of the world.

"Different traditions and cultural differences lead to different forms of synodality. We can also learn from each other. And yet we must live and continue to search for a form of synodality that is suitable for us."

Source

• The Pillar

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 meeting in Lisbon with members of the Jesuit order during his trip for World Youth Day.

During a question-and-answer session, a Portuguese Jesuit recounted his disheartening experience during a sabbatical in the US.

He lamented the presence of hostility towards the pope's leadership within a segment of American Catholics, even among some bishops.

Addressing this concern, Pope Francis acknowledged the existence of a "very strong reactionary attitude" present within the US Catholic Church. He highlighted its organised nature, noting its influence on emotional attachment and affiliation.

Francis termed this attitude as "backward" and cautioned against the potential pitfalls of such a perspective. He stressed it could foster an environment of narrow-mindedness and closure.

Moreover, Pope Francis underscored the peril of allowing ideological beliefs to supersede genuine faith. He stressed that this trend could erode the authentic tradition of the Church.

He cautioned against the replacement of faith by membership within certain segments of the Church. Then Francis emphasised the importance of upholding the broader unity of the faith.

Pope often criticised by conservatives

In the ten years since his election, Francis has been criticised by conservative sectors of the US Church who are opposed to reforms such as giving women and lay Catholics more roles and making the Church more welcoming and less judgmental towards some, including LGBT people.

Appealing for a more progressive outlook, Pope Francis underscored the necessity of embracing an evolving understanding of faith and morals. He invoked historical examples, highlighting that while certain pontiffs of the past tolerated practices like slavery, the Church has evolved over time.

While the Pope's comments resonate with many who seek a more open and adaptable Church, his sentiments have also ignited reactions.

One prominent critic, Cardinal Raymond Burke, cautioned that Francis' upcoming bishops' meeting in October to shape the Church's future might inadvertently foster "confusion and error and division."

Sources

Religion News Service

Reuters

La Civiltà Cattolica

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 Church, and sexuality.

Only 44% strongly supported the abolition of mandatory priestly celibacy and 42% firmly backed the admission of women to the diaconate and priesthood. Less than 38% strongly agreed that "the Catholic Church should reassess its stance on homosexuality."

The survey had 599 participants from 67 countries. Continue reading

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

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 was intended as a response to an analysis of clerical abuse in the German Church known as the MHG study.

"To us, this starting point in abuse, which you do not mention in your letter, is very important," he wrote.

"Only if we address the systemic causes of the unspeakable suffering brought upon people by representatives of the Church, mostly priests, will it be possible at all to reopen the space in which a proclamation of the Good News meets with open ears."

He went on: "Yes, only in this way will we achieve new credibility and new trust in the public and among the faithful, which we have squandered."

"In this sense, the Synodal Way is a ‘way of conversion and renewal,' as it says in its statutes, a way that also lets us learn anew as we walk.

"Here, too, an exchange seems helpful to me. I would like to learn from you how you confront the systemic causes of the thousands of abuses that we have to perceive here in Germany, with you in Poland, but also worldwide."

Bätzing was referring to the abuse crisis that has shaken the Church in Poland in recent years. This led to Vatican disciplinary action against a series of mostly retired bishops accused of negligent handling of abuse cases.

Bätzing comments follow Gądecki's nearly 3,000-word letter published on February 22, questioning whether the Synodal Way was rooted in the Gospel.

"Faithful to the Church's teaching, we should not yield to the pressures of the world or to the patterns of the dominant culture since this can lead to moral and spiritual corruption," the archbishop of Poznań wrote.

"Let us avoid the repetition of worn-out slogans and standard demands such as the abolition of celibacy, the priesthood of women, communion for the divorced, and the blessing of same-sex unions."

Recently, the Bishops' Conference of the Nordic Countries also raised concerns over "the direction, the methodology and the substance" of the Synodal Way reform consultations in Germany.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• CathNews New Zealand

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 synodal process as another country's "problem."

The Synodal Path "must be seen against the backdrop of the concrete situation in Germany", the Scandinavian bishops argue, because it gives the reason for the "felt demand/need for change".

How else could this be?

Should the German bishops reply to their episcopal confreres about the problems in the Nordic countries?

The Scandinavian bishops want to put themselves on the map and distance themselves from the "German problem".

Their letter begins in a condescending manner that continues throughout as if they bring a depth of learning and insight that is lacking in the German Church.

At the outset, they acknowledge their historical reliance on Germany from the Post-Reformation period, neatly forgetting their much earlier reliance on Germanic Christians.

They also acknowledge their financial dependence on the German Church, which they continue to enjoy.

An attempt to avoid the real challenges and issues

The "immense challenges" facing the Church, according to the Scandinavian bishops, are global and "overpowering" — challenges they wish to "negotiate" or "approach" in faithfulness to Christ.

"Avoid" might have been a more accurate sentiment. The implication of negotiating rather than confronting or addressing is clear, and it sets the overall tone of the bishops' letter.

Although they see the "felt demand for change" in Germany as the hub of the German problem, the issues raised by the Synodal Path are not "purely" or exclusively German.

The Scandinavians acknowledge that the issues raised by the Germans are "overpowering, global challenges for the Church", but as the bishops of the Nordic countries, they take issue with them. They only acknowledge ecclesial sexual abuse as a matter of justice and a Christian imperative.

The implication is that the other issues of priestly life-forms, such as celibacy and formation, the place of women in the Church (ordination and governance), and a broader understanding of sexuality are not matters of justice or Christian imperative for them.

The Scandinavians address sexual abuse with the now hackneyed episcopal condemnations.

They address this issue from the point of justice and Christian imperative because it is the "safe" issue. Safe, because everyone agrees that something should be done, and every bishop wants to be seen to be doing something.

The primary reason for their condemnation is not the ecclesial sin committed against believers but their concern for the continuing believability of the Church.

"Dangerous topics"

Again, they put the institution and the structures that created the sin first. But later in their letter, they seem to want to protect the same structures.

The other issues such as clerical life and formation, women in the Church and teaching on sexuality are treated differently, probably because they demand proactive change rather than reactive apologies.

The problem with these issues — for the Scandinavians — is they touch on the immutability of teaching and, at the same time, reflect the Zeitgeist or spirit of the age. They are "dangerous topics" that should be avoided.

Consequently, the search for answers to these issues needs to be pulled aside and reviewed by the unchangeable elements.

Clearly, the Nordic bishops have not found a dogmatic or Zeitgeist objection to ecclesial sexual abuse.

Given this context, they conclude that the "direction, methodology and content" of the Synodal Path are worrisome.

They accuse the Germans of being driven by "process thinking" and the desire for structural Church change without clearly outlining Prozessdenken and why structural change is problematic.

As a result, both process thinking and structural change are presented negatively because they reduce reform in the Church to a project.

Implicit is the notion that reform is neither structural nor human by design when applied to the Church.

The argument is that Church does change differently from every other human institution. Where the Church becomes an object of human change, it is no longer the subject of God's salvific will.

"Process thinking" and a richer theological debate

Process-thinking is an end-to-end process, that is non-hierarchical in its structure.

According to the Nordic bishops, non-hierarchical thinking threatens the non-changeable sources of Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium, and must therefore be eliminated.

The danger of process-thinking is that it can break down sacred theological silos and open discrete theological categories to investigation and scrutiny.

But on the positive side, process-thinking can enable a richer theological debate, better theology and Church structures, thus optimizing Church life.

Concretely, this means having laypeople sitting beside bishops making decisions in a fundamental "equality of equals."

Some would argue that this is a model of the early Church, while others would disagree.

By contrast, the Scandinavian bishops appear to want to disempower the image or metaphor of the People of God. They write that this is "only one of the images with which the living Tradition describes the Church".

That's true, but it is a crucial image or metaphor of the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.

A Church with passive members

The Scandinavian bishops suggest three other images should be used to describe the Church

• Corpus mysterium
• Bride of Christ and
• Mediatrix of graces.

These are more passive and receptive than they are active and dynamic.

The curious metaphor of the Church as the "mediatrix of graces" is a reference I have not found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).

They might be meaning that the Church "is like a sacrament" (CCC 775) and "as a sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument" (CCC 776). If so, their theology is unclear and needs greater precision.

Having not paid sufficient attention to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the bishops have missed other vital images of the Church that Pope Francis has used explicitly and implicitly.

These include the Church as sheepfold and Christ as the shepherd; the Church as God's farm or field and God the heavenly farmer; the Church as building; the Church as Pilgrim People; and the Church as Body, for whom the "one mediator is Christ" (Lumen Gentium 6-8).

I believe the Scandinavians are correct to say that the Church "cannot be merely defined by the visible community".

But neither can it be defined without it.

For some, addressing the day's issues might be a capitulation to the current Zeitgeist. Still, for others, this is "reading the signs of the times".

The type of Catholic the Scandinavian bishops appeal to—and want the German bishops to hear—are those who sit quietly in their parishes with a strong sense of sacramental mystery.

These people "carry and set" the life of parishes and communities. They are not people who engage in questionnaires and debates, the bishops say, to defend them.

There is a "quietest" element to this type of person and a sense that the person who keeps his or her head firmly in the snow is the true type of Catholic.

Radical conversion and a radical image of God

But are these the people with whom Pope Francis wants us to communicate? His message is more outward-focused, asking us to engage with the sheep who have left the farm.

Consequently, the reference to Lumen Gentium 9 is double-edged.

How does the Church, in Christ's name, "approach the world and be its sure hope and source of salvation" if it does not also engage with the questions and push-back of the people of this age? Is it sufficient to live the ad intra life of the Church in peace and serenity by ignoring the ad extra "mess" we call human society?

The Scandinavian bishops then return to the "German problem" and the crisis of the German Church and its potential for renewal.

Condescendingly, they remember the dead saints, the past German theologians, and the humble and obscure German missionaries as examples of the life-giving patrimony of rich blessing for the Church in Germany.

Although they write of the need for radical conversion, they seem to want to avoid radical conversion that isn't spiritualised.

They misunderstand that the image of the People of God is a radical image of God, not of the people!

In this image, God is not the property of the people, but the people are the chosen of God.

Regarding the mission of the Church, the Scandinavians have forgotten that the Church — the People of God — are called to be salt and light for the world through living immersed in the world.

People sitting safely at home not participating in the life of the Church cannot be the synodal image of Scandinavian Catholicism the bishops wish to promote, can they?

The Scandinavian bishops should send another letter apologizing to the German Church.

They could explain why they are so frightened of facing the world's reality and why they want to hide from key contemporary questions.

Joe Grayland is a theologian and a priest of the Diocese of Palmerston North. His latest book is: Liturgical Lockdown. Covid and the Absence of the Laity. (Te Hepara Pai, 2021).

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 "purely German" concern, they added.

They are especially concerned about "the direction, the methodology and the substance" of the Synodal Way reform consultations in Germany.

While they acknowledge Germany's desire to address the wounds caused by clergy sexual abuse and to call for a "radical conversion" of the church, they can't alter the aspects of the faith "that contain unchangeable parts of the Church's teaching," they said.

The "unchangeable parts" they refer to concern the Synodal Way participants' call for the abolition of priestly celibacy in the Latin Church, the ordination of women priests, same-sex blessings, and changes to Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

True church reform had always consisted of "defending, explaining and putting into credible practice Catholic teaching based on divine revelation and authentic tradition," the Scandinavian bishops wrote.

These unchangeable parts are not about "following the spirit of the times.

"Throughout the world, a number of Catholics ask questions about the lifestyle and formation of priests, the role of women in the Church, the range of views on human sexuality etc," the Nordic bishops wrote.

"In the legitimate search for answers to the questions of our time, we must nonetheless respect boundaries set by topics that stand for unchangeable aspects of the Church's teaching."

"It has ever been the case that true reforms in the Church have set out from Catholic teaching founded on divine Revelation and authentic Tradition, to defend it, expound it and translate it credibly into lived life — not from capitulation to the Zeitgeist. How fickle the Zeitgeist is, is something we verify on a daily basis."

The Scandinavians also warned their German confreres against "turning the church into a project, into an object of our actions through process-oriented thinking and structural change."

All Catholics' views should also be listened to carefully, they added - not just those that answer questionnaires.

"The global synodal process has aroused great expectations. We all hope for a revitalisation of Catholic life and of the Church's mission. However, there is a risk that we, in so far as we stay enclosed within paradigms of process thinking and structural change, end up conceiving of the Church as a project, the object of our agency."

They said that the image of the Church as the People of God on pilgrimage should be complemented by other images drawn from Catholic tradition, especially the Church as "a mystery of communion."

Bishop Georg Baetzing, president of the German Bishops' Conference, said on the criticism of the Synodal Way: "Such things like open letters irritate me, but of course we respond - in an objective way."

Source

• CNA
• NCR
• Image: Vatican News

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 serve as a corrective.

The 88-year-old German cardinal said: "I have not yet given up hope that the prayers of many faithful Catholics will help to steer the Synodal Way in Germany on Catholic tracks."

"It is neither a synod nor a mere dialogue process," said the cardinal. "It goes beyond my imagination that demands such as the abolition of celibacy and the ordination of women to the priesthood could end up with a two-thirds majority in the bishops' conference or that they could reach a consensus in the universal Church."

The Synodal Way is a multi-year process bringing together bishops and laypeople 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 that the process would end with a series of "binding" votes. This has raised concerns at the Vatican that the resolutions might challenge the Church's teaching and discipline.

Kasper told the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Passau that the Synodal Way's organizers should have paid greater attention to Pope Francis' 2019 letter to the German Church.

In the letter, the pope warned German Catholics not to succumb to a particular "temptation."

He wrote: "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."

Kasper asked: "Why did the Synodal Way not take Pope Francis' letter more seriously and, as befits a synod, consider the critical questions in the light of the Gospel?"

The theologian, who served as bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart from 1989 to 1999, said that renewal could only come from an inner growth of faith, hope, and love.

Commenting on the Vatican's recent invitation to all Catholic dioceses to take part in the forthcoming synod on synodality, Kasper emphasized that one could "not reinvent the Church," but rather contribute to renewing it in the Holy Spirit.

He said: "Synods are not a parliament, not a ‘paper factory' that draws up long papers that hardly anyone reads afterwards, nor a church regiment that says where to go."

"Synods are gatherings in which, in crisis situations, the bishop, his presbyterate, and the faithful face the signs of the times together, look to the Gospel, and listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the congregations in prayer and in exchange with one another."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

Pillar Catholic

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