Catholic meeting in Frankfurt: disbelief and tears after the vote on church sexual morality hessenschau.de
Homosexuality, celibacy, women: 230 Catholics in office and dignity meet in Frankfurt to continue their synodal path reform process. On Thursday evening, however, they will cause a bang – which could already cause the reforms to fail.
Bewilderment, huge disappointment and tears: At the Synodal Assembly of the Catholic Church in Frankfurt on Thursday evening, a fundamental text on church sexual morality failed. The text, which strives for a liberalization of the church’s sexual morality, does not achieve the necessary two-thirds majority of the bishops. Only 33 bishops voted in favor of the text, with 21 votes against and two abstentions.
The high number of people leaving the church and the decline in church attendance left doubts that a renewal of the church was urgently needed, said the Limburg bishop and chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, the morning before at the start of the fourth synodal assembly.
The pressure to change is “infinitely great”. Until Saturday, 230 bishops, priests, church workers and numerous lay representatives will meet on the grounds of the Frankfurt Exhibition Center to decide on important reform projects of the synodal path.
Six concrete reform projects
Finally, six specific reform projects were to be discussed:
- Abolition of compulsory celibacy and the celibacy of priests
- Greater co-determination rights for lay people
- More women should be given leadership positions in the church
- Admission of women to the priesthood
- Homosexuality should no longer be condemned as a sin
- Blessing celebrations for same-sex partnerships
“The questions that we ask here are also asked in a large part of the church,” emphasized Bätzing. “Here in Germany we are not on a special path, but the Catholic Church is on the move worldwide.”
“Don’t be unsettled by boos”
The President of the Central Council of German Catholics (ZdK), Irme Stetter-Karp, emphasized in advance that this time, among other things, it was a matter of whether synodality would be introduced permanently, whether joint advice and decisions should also be taken in the future.
“Overall, participation, appreciation of diversity, and the future viability of the church are on the decision-making agenda.” “Boos” should not unsettle you.
In the evening Stetter-Karp rang the bell for composure. If such voting behavior, as in the case of sexual morality, is repeated in the text on the role of women, “we are faced with a shambles,” she said. “I expect the bishops with their power to be open about their opinions.”
with sharp words
In a crisis debate, sharp words suddenly fall – a delegate warned the bishops of cowardice. “It can’t be that the faithful have to stay with the bishops, but the bishops won’t stay with us!” cried the nun Katharina Kluitmann.
Benedictine Philippa Rath said she feared the division between believers and bishops over such behavior would deepen. “I feel like I walked into a knife,” said a lay representative. A spokesman already saw the synodal path as a failure.
synodal path
The Synodal Path has been running since 2019, organized by the Central Council of German Catholics (ZdK) and the German Bishops’ Conference. The Synodal Assembly is the main body of the current reform process of German Catholics, the Synodal Way. At the end of the road – probably in 2023 – there should be concrete reforms.
End of further information
Bätzing defends reforms against criticism from the Vatican
The trigger for the reform process since 2019 was the massive crisis of confidence after the abuse scandal became known. In July of this year, the Vatican had the German brothers and sisters in a Harschen opinion communicated that the Synodal Way was “not empowered” to develop new forms of governance and a new orientation of Catholic doctrine and morality.
Bishop Bätzing then resolutely opposed the criticism from the Vatican and insisted on changes in the Catholic Church: “Anyone who withdraws from the dialogue with the present today, yes, rejects it programmatically, loses every opportunity to critically change contemporary culture and to win people of today for the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Bätzing pointed out that the Vatican had misconceptions about the process in Germany. That is why a direct exchange is all the more important.
“We very much hope to finally be invited to a meeting in Rome,” Stetter-Karp said. “There are only a few questions on the synodal path that need to be answered by an overall church regulation.” German Catholics could also decide many things individually.
Incidentally, the text about sexual morality was not even considered the most explosive beforehand. The discussion about the reassessment of homosexuality on Friday is likely to be much more controversial.
End of further information
hessenschau update – the newsletter for Hesse
end of form