“I say to German Catholics: Germany has a great Protestant Church, but I don’t want another one, because it won’t be as good,” the Pope said. Francis was responding to a question about what Germany’s Catholic Church should do in the face of declining membership. “I’m not saying to go backwards, no; but to go to the source of inspiration, to the roots,” he emphasized, warning us not to enter into “potential” discussions that move away from the “core of theology.”
What is the reform movement of the German Catholic Church?
Pope Francis was responding to the progressive German Catholic movement known as the “Conciliar Path,” which proposed sweeping reforms amid declining membership and changing public attitudes. Record numbers of Germans have left their churches in recent years, with church membership falling below 50% for the first time in 2021. The results of a survey published in September this year showed that 58% of German Catholics opposed Pope Francis’ statements against abortion. The church has also been rocked by child sexual abuse scandals. In July, the German Catholic Church received a letter from the Vatican rebuking the reformist movement. “The Synodal Path in Germany does not have the authority to compel bishops and the faithful to accept new forms of leadership and new orientations of doctrine and ethics,” it said. The statement went on to say that this would “represent a wound to church communion and a threat to the unity of the Church.”
What are the reforms proposed by the Synodical Road?
In January, around 120 priests and Catholic church officials in Germany came out as members of the LGBTQ community and called for an end to “outdated statements of church doctrine” on sexuality and gender. In February, the Synod Path called on the Catholic Church to allow priests to marry, women to become deacons and same-sex marriages to be blessed by the church. The group also called for ordinary Catholics to have a greater say in how the church is run. This report was written in part with material from the German Press Agency. Edited by Amanda Rivkin
Faith Matters – Holy Women of Cologne
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