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After the vote on a series of proposals suggesting profound changes in the Synodal Path, the German bishops this week hold their plenary assembly
By Delphine Nerbollier | Germany
The Synodal Path, which the Catholic Church in Germany launched in December 2019, is raising high expectations after the latest revelations of sexual abuse scandals.
Organized by the German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the primary lay organization, this reform process on the organization and future of Catholics in Germany appears to be supported by a majority of the country's 67 bishops.
The most recent session of the Synodal Path, which was held from February 3-5 in Frankfurt, showed this tendency.
Of the 14 texts discussed, three were approved at their second reading and obtained the required two-thirds majority among the 230 members of the synodal assembly and among the 67 bishops.
A dozen bishops vote against
The first text proposes to Pope Francis a greater decision-making role for laity in the Church's governing bodies, based on the model of "a democratic and open society".
The second text advocates lay participation in the selection of bishops, while the third text – which is more theological – calls for the Church's sources of truth to be extended to "theological science", "the signs of the times" and "the meaning of the faith for the people of God".
In the various votes, a handful of bishops abstained while a dozen others voted against.
Among those who voted "no" were Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, Bishop Wolfgang Ipolt of Görlitz, and Auxiliary Bishop Florian Wörner of Augsburg.
Of these dissenting voices, Bishop Voderholzer is the most prominent in the media.
In an interview with La Croix in September 2021, he said the sexual abuse crisis was being "instrumentalized" by some in order to "reorganize the Catholic Church on the model of the ordinances of the Protestant Church, where the word 'synod' has a different meaning and means a kind of parliament of the Church".
"The soup of the synodal path is cooked on a fire fanned by indignation against sexual abuse," he said.
Voderholzer acknowledged that was "in the minority" in the bishops' conference, but said he's "perplexed" by the gap between Synodal Path's views and the position of the Vatican.
The 62-year-old bishop, who has headed Regensburg Diocese since 2012, has gained more visibility as the leading critic of the Synodal Path since Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne has come increasingly under fire for his mismanagement of sexual abuse cases.
Woelki, 65, presented the pope with his resignation on March 2 for the second time.
He has repeatedly said that the synodal process could lead to serious "division" in the Church and he did not take part in the February session.
"I don't know what role he will be able to play in the synodal process," said Claudia Lücking-Michel, a member of the ZdK, who heads one of the four synodal process forums.
"A form of Christian life that is not politicized"
Beyond these few bishops who are resolutely against the reforms, most of the "conservatives" remain discreet.
"They know that their positions are in the minority in their own dioceses," noted Michael Seewald, a professor in the Catholic theological faculty at the University of Münster.
"Most conservative bishops observe a restraint that has its advantages. It allows them to preserve a certain form of Christian life that is not politicized. This posture is also shared by some reformers," he said.
The "reformers" do not necessarily support all the proposals of the synodal path, either.
This is the case for Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz, who is opposed to greater participation of the laity in the appointment of bishops.
Therefore, he will not implement this measure in his own diocese.
This is because it falls to the local ordinary to decide whether or not to implement measures that are not within the purview of the universal Church.
Other issues, such as the possibility of ordaining women, necessarily require the pope's approval.
And on burning issues such as this, the German bishops who are leery of the Synodal Path have an advantage: they have many supporters in the Roman Curia.
"This is a fact," says Claudia Lücking-Michel.
"Unlike the conservatives, the reformists have few supporters in Rome. But that should not prevent them from making proposals," she insisted.
"The important thing is that they reach Rome."
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