Bishops from Germany have gathered in Dresden to address various topics, including the conflict in Ukraine, the impending World Youth Day in Lisbon, abuse inside the church, and the next step of the national "Synodal Way."
German Bishops' Conference
According to the Vatican News, from Feb. 27 through Mar. 2, the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) will conduct its spring meeting in Dresden. Sixty-seven bishops are participating in the assembly. The primary focus is on the synodal process that Pope Francis initiated in 2021 for the Universal Church and the "Synodal Road" (Synodale Weg) that has been followed in parallel by the German church and is nearing its conclusion.
In 2019, the bishops and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) started a national conversation on the clergy sexual abuse epidemic within the church. It will be achieved by debating and adopting resolutions on whether or how the Catholic Church should modify its approach to sexuality and the exercise of power, including teaching and sacraments. The dialogue was initiated with the declared objective of tackling the epidemic of clergy sexual abuse.
As mentioned, the numerous proposals that have emerged from discussions include contentious topics such as ending the requirement for priests to practice celibacy, the church's approval of marriages between people of the same sexual orientation, the role of women in the church, and the participation of lay people in the election of their bishops.
The reform process, whose compliance with the 2021-2024 Universal Synodal Process has raised concerns in the Vatican, especially among Pope Francis and certain German Bishops, is scheduled to reach a turning point in Frankfurt next week with the installation of a "Synodal Committee." The committee will legally establish a "Synodal Council," an advisory body composed of bishops and laypeople in roughly equal proportions.
Warnings from the Vatican
The Catholic News Agency reported that despite the Vatican's repeated warnings, a letter written by the head of the German Bishops' Conference and published on Wednesday shows that preparations for a German synodal council are proceeding as scheduled. Bishop Georg Batzing wrote in the letter dated Feb. 23 and released Mar. 1 that the German bishops take the Vatican's "concerns" about a German synodal council seriously.
The letter is directed toward Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, who serves as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. The bishop from Germany informs the cardinals that for three years, a "synodal committee" from Germany will prepare for a synodal council. Batzing explains in his article that this action is "a sign that there is still a considerable need for clarification about future synodal cooperation."
Moreover, as German Church authorities stubbornly refuse Pope Francis, senior Vatican officials, and other bishops' calls to rein in their catastrophic and fraudulently misnamed "Synodal Way" process, a memo is urgently needed, the National Catholic Register reported.
A memorandum is urgently needed to explain to most dissident German bishops and their supporters outside of Germany that it is utterly unacceptable to try a similarly ideological takeover of the ongoing worldwide synod in hopes of promoting these same dissenting agendas in that process as well. The United States Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego is prominent among those supporters.
Related Article:Pope Francis Holds Vatican Meeting With German Bishops Despite Synodal Way Concern
