The president of the German Episcopal Conference asks the Church to radically changes on homosexuality and women
Article published on the website of the Catholic Catholic National Catholic Reporter (United States) on December 29, 2020, freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro
In a large interview, the president of the German Episcopal Conference invites the Catholic Church to radical changes, and criticizes the Vatican attitude towards the German church: "I would call myself a conservative, because I love this church and I like to dedicate my life and my energy to her, but I want you to change" monsignor georg bätzing, Bishop Of limburg, said To the newspaper Herder Korrespondenz, then taken up by Kna, german catholic press agency.
Among other things, Monsignor Bätzing suggests modifying the Catholic doctrine that concerns LGBTQ rights; For the Catholic Church, homosexual relations are “intrinsically disordered”, but lGBTQ people Must be treated with "Respect, compassion and delicacy", and should not be discriminated against.
Monsignor Bätzing also hoped for a blessing for couples who cannot marry in the church: "We must propose solutions that are not only effective in the private sphere, but that they are also publicly visible, without this confusing them with marriage", not only for homosexual couples, but also for divorced divorced people.
The bishop of Limburg also hoped for reforms for the role of women in the Church, stating that it is increasingly difficult to justify the fact that women cannot be diagonesse and presbyter; it is important "Saying sincerity with the position of the Church, according to which the sacramental ministry is reserved for men, but I must frankly say that the arguments brought by the Church are less and less convincing, and that there are good theological motivations in favor of the opening of the sacramental ministry to women".
There is space for maneuver on the question, and the bishop generally hopes for greater involvement of women and lay people during mass, for example by pronouncing the homily, which is not allowed to date.
He then invited to independent and transparent investigations on [sexual] Abuses, in order to establish who he was and is responsible for What. who violated the regulations "In any case, he must take responsibility for his behavior".
Monsignor Bätzing then criticized the Vatican attitude towards the German church, referring in particular to a document, signed by him, on the shared communion, published last May by Catholic and Protestant theologians and intended to be discussed at the Plenary Shareholders' Meeting of German Bishops at the end of September.
However, on 18 September the congregation for the doctrine of faith made its strong perplexities known about the agreement [with Protestant theologians]: the differences between the two churches in understanding the Eucharist and the Ministry would be "Still very deep", so much so as to advise against common participation: "At the end of June I was in Rome [in my position again President of the German Episcopal Conference], where I spoke with three of the cardinals [who had examined the agreement]. None of the three told me that a revision of the process was underway, or that they wanted to talk to me" says monsignor Bätzing.
Speaking of the debate on the reform of the parishes and on the synodal path [of the German Catholic Church], the bishop of Limburg collected the Vatican reserves "On us Germans and the way we do things".
The synodal path, which should last two years, intends to discuss the issues of power, sexual morality, priestly life and soil of women in the Church. The aim is to recover lost trust because of sexual scandals: a study by the episcopal conference estimates in 3,700 known cases of sexual abuse [by priests] in Germany from 1946 to 2014.
"I try to understand all this and I suspect that Rome receives many pressures to keep the universal Church together in the midst of many different cultural influences," he adds monsignor Bätzing, the answers cannot delay and must be "Suitable for their cultural context and able to fill the gap between the Gospel and the various cultures, so that it does not become deeper". These responses must be decentralized, and allow freedom of maneuver.
Original text: Head of German bishops, conservative self-Described, calls for change
