Shortly before the start of the spring general assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference, the Vatican asked that a vote be taken off the agenda. The tone is sharp. Once again it’s about the synodal path.
Mail from Rome again. Another stop sign for the Synodal Way. The bishops’ conference actually wanted to decide at its meeting in Augsburg how to proceed with this reform project of the Catholic Church in Germany. On the agenda: the adoption of the statutes of a synodal committee.
Immediately before the start of the spring meeting of the bishops, the Vatican asked the chairman of the bishops’ conference Georg Bätzing to remove this item from the agenda. The reason: The planned committee is intended to prepare a Synodal Council, as a joint governing body of grassroots representatives and bishops. The Synodal Council should continue to discuss and decide on the topics of the Synodal Path: the distribution of power in the church, the role of women and sexual morality.
It is apparently inconceivable for Rome that bishops, together with elected lay representatives, would decide on issues of such importance. “Such an body is not provided for by current canon law,” says the letter from the Vatican.
It was signed by the heads of important Vatican authorities: Cardinals Pietro Parolin (Secretariat of State), Manuel Fernandez (Faith Authority) and Robert Prevost from the Episcopal Authority. The letter to the chairman of the bishops’ conference was expressly approved by Pope Francis.
A clear announcement
The tone is sharp, the instruction unmistakable: a year ago, the Vatican had already “explicitly and on the special order of the Holy Father” asked the bishops not to pursue the establishment of the Synodal Council any further. The adoption of the statutes of the Synodal Committee would therefore “contradict the Holy See’s instructions issued on the special commission of the Holy Father and would once again present him with a fait accompli.”
After this very clear announcement from Rome, Bätzing has now taken the vote on the Synodal Council off the agenda in Augsburg at short notice. Everything else will become clear during the general assembly, according to a spokesman for the bishops’ conference.
The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the representative body for Catholics, reacts with irritation: “This means a further delay in the urgently needed reforms in the church,” says ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp. It increases the pressure on the bishops: “The ZdK expects the Synodal Committee to be fully operational at its next meeting in June.” However, this presupposes that the bishops act against Rome’s express instructions and approve the statutes of the Synodal Committee.
The reform movement “We are Church” has called for a vigil at Augsburg Cathedral together with other groups in the late afternoon – when the bishops celebrate their opening service.
“Punch in the gut”
Is the Synodal Path at the end? The reform process was launched in 2019 in response to the abuse crisis. The first phase ran until last March, during which more than a dozen reform proposals were developed – including for more separation of powers and more rights for women and queer people in the church.
Now it’s time to put the suggestions into action. That is why laypeople and bishops have agreed on the establishment of a Synodal Council.
According to the dpa news agency, canon lawyer Thomas Schüller from Münster describes Rome’s renewed intervention as a “punch in the stomach”. The Vatican is “panicked that in the future bishops in Germany will have to seek binding advice from the faithful.” The Synodal Committee is now at an end.
Warning words come from Austria. Viennese Cardinal Christoph Schönborn warns his fellow bishops in Germany not to make decisions that could lead to division. The German bishops must “seriously ask themselves” whether they really want to leave communion with the Pope. “Refusing to give in would be obstinatio – a clear sign of a schism that no one can want.”