Status: 12/18/2022 08:45 a.m
Abuse scandals, a lack of will to reform, encrusted structures: there are many reasons to leave the Catholic Church. So why stay?
Finding an apartment for a homeless woman – and quickly: Municipal officer Marianne Arndt is sitting with Ms. Kakolli in her office in Cologne and is practicing charity, as she says herself. Help in everyday life, far away from the Vatican and the cardinals. In her small office in the Catholic community in Cologne, she tries to support people.
“I don’t want to abandon our church to the powerful,” says Arndt. “I want the church to belong to the people and to be filled with people who are of good will and doing great things.” She definitely doesn’t want to leave the church. Community work at the base is so important in the everyday life of many people.
“It hurts my heart that our good people are leaving, who are so faithful in their hearts,” says Arndt. “They’re leaving because we have staff who are damaging to business. That’s irresponsible.”
institutions in crisis
The church as an institution is in a crisis, but that is precisely why it needs to be changed. “I don’t quarrel with leaving,” says the speaker from Cologne. “I represent a church of good will, which stands for openness, for democratic approaches, for charity. I don’t want to stand for the system of untrustworthiness. Actually, our Christian message is brilliant!” This is another reason why Marianne Arndt hopes that people will stay and the church will change quickly.
Just like Judith Genz. The mother of two is 35 years old and has been active in the parish in Hoffnungsthal near Cologne since she was a child. “In fact, nothing keeps me in the institution at the moment. I, too, am extremely frustrated and disappointed by the official church,” says Genz. But she doesn’t want to go. She was head of children and youth work, then a lecturer and has also been a member of the parish council for several years.
“The lying must stop”
“I decided to stay – out of defiance, so to speak, because this church is also my church. For me, this church means a home that was given to me by Jesus Christ: a home for my soul. I don’t want to give that up .” She is very connected to the community and the church in town, even if she often despairs of the church as an institution.
“With regard to the cases of abuse, the lying and the cover-up by fraternizing with the perpetrators must finally stop,” says Genz. The need for reform is immense. “The words and deeds of Jesus Christ are my guiding principle. I really hope and pray that the current crisis, which has escalated into a downright disaster, may ultimately be the chance for a consistent new beginning for our church.”
Promote a modern church
With a banner campaign that she implemented on church walls, she wanted to set an example with other believers and advertise a modern church. If the local church would invest financially and in terms of content, then people could finally associate positive experiences with the church again. “Actually, as a community of believers, we are the church and are called upon by Jesus to shape it,” says Genz.
Many actions in the various communities can also be seen as a courageous signal. “Pastoral officers were allowed to preach on Sundays in many congregations. Numerous priests have dared to bless same-sex couples. I can only say: Keep it up!”
Even if the young mother suffers from the official church, she holds on to the fellowship in her parish. She will stay and continue to work for a modern church.