In a statement Saturday, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, President of the German Bishops’ Conference, stressed that “the Church in Germany is not going its own way and it will not make any decisions that would only be possible in the context of the universal church.”
However, the Church in Germany wants to and must provide answers to the questions being asked by the faithful,” he said, insisting that the country’s abuse crisis “shattered trust and called into question the authority of the bishops to such a degree that new paths are necessary in order to confront the crisis in the Church.”
Bätzing said the bishops wish to “initiate the tasks that we bishops can implement in the local Church” while also punting issues “relating to the magisterium” into the global synod process that is unfolding as part of Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality. …
As part of this week’s meetings, the 62 German bishops who participated in the ad limina met with various Vatican departments, had a private meeting with Pope Francis, and had what was described as a “open” and “frank” discussion on concerns regarding their “Synodal Path” with several Vatican department heads.
In that meeting, Vatican officials suggesting issuing a “moratorium” on the Synodal Path process, however, that proposal was not accepted.
[The synodal emphasis of late at The Vatican always risked opening up these kinds of conflicts, perhaps especially with German bishops itching to change Catholic teachings on divorce and the family. It may be too late to issue a “moratorium” on a process they began. — Ed]
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