
Bishop Bätzing: Most German Catholics Support Synodal Way, No Danger of Schism
The bishop of Limburg and chairman of the German bishops’ conference said he sees no Vatican obstacles getting in the way of German Synodal Way ambitions.
The bishop of Limburg and chairman of the German bishops’ conference said he sees no Vatican obstacles getting in the way of German Synodal Way ambitions.
In all, 15 abuse victims, together with friends and family members, arrived in Rome this week after setting off on bicycles on May 6 from Munich, the capital of Bavaria in southern Germany.
ANALYSIS: What does the Central Committee for German Catholics’ demand that the bishops lose their ‘veto power’ in the upcoming Synodal Committee say about the underlying status of the local Church’s synodal project?
In contrast to prevailing trends in German Catholicism, the Diocese of Passau is embracing an approach that emphasizes articulating the Catholic faith in new ways.
Pope Francis and other Church leaders have expressed serious concerns about plans to create a permanent synodal council for the German Church.
COMMENTARY: The pastoral constitution called for engaging the world in ‘the light of the Gospel,’ but some initiatives in the Church today seek to subvert the faith to the spirit of modernity.
The approved drafts have fueled worries that the Church in Germany is steadily moving toward schism.
Some laypeople who spoke with the Register support its heterodox approach, but others warn their local Church is careening toward schism.
Bishop Voderholzer launched a website in September presenting alternative texts for the Synodal Way.
In a Sept. 17 lecture in Rome, the German cardinal said the German path deviated from Vatican II, especially in the area of “the sacramental understanding of the Church and the episcopate.”
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