German Bishops’ Conference: Also Bätzing for the end of compulsory celibacy

The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bätzing, has also spoken out in favor of allowing priests to marry. Cardinal Marx from Munich had previously advocated such a step.

After Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, also spoke out in favor of allowing priests to marry.

He is not against celibacy, said Bätzing during a press conference at the start of the third synodal assembly of the Catholic Church in Frankfurt/Main. But he was in favor of the priests being free to decide whether they wanted to live unmarried.

“Celibacy is not the only form of following Jesus”

“The celibacy of the priests is a biblically attested form of following Jesus, and that is a great treasure, and I like to live this form and I hope it is convincing,” said Bätzing. “But it’s not the only form – not in the Catholic Church anyway. The Catholic Churches of the East have married priests, and that was always my conviction: I can’t see that marriage and the priesthood aren’t a common enrichment for this priest service and for the common life of spouses.”

The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Irme Stetter-Karp, said that a person’s free decision on the way to the priesthood is the best basis for this. She is convinced that there are wonderful priests in the Church who are decidedly celibate. “It’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and.” Stetter-Karp said she herself had been married for 40 years to a man who wanted to be a priest and had become a good hospital chaplain.

Marx had told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that it would be better for everyone to create the opportunity for celibate and married priests. “Some priests would be better off if they were married. Not just for sexual reasons, but because it would be better for their lives and they wouldn’t be lonely.”