religion
Catholic Day: “I am very impatient”
“We don’t have a home game here. But are there still home games for Catholics in Germany? I think: No.”: Irme Stetter-Karp. Photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
The president of the umbrella organization of Catholic laypeople in Germany is harshly criticizing her church ahead of the Catholic Congress in Erfurt.
At least 20,000 visitors are expected in the Thuringian capital by Sunday for the 103rd German Catholic Day with around 500 events, significantly fewer than at previous Catholic Days. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will speak at the opening. The meeting is taking place in Erfurt for the first time – and for the first time since 2016 in very secular eastern Germany, where Catholic Christians are a small minority. Stetter-Karp said that the Church Day is not a home game in Erfurt. “But are there still home games for Catholics in Germany? I think: No.”
Ordained ministry for women?
Erfurt’s Bishop Ulrich Neymeyr also sees a great need for reform, especially with regard to the role of women in the church. “The majority of Catholics in Germany, but also bishops, would like to see the ordained ministry opened up to women – at least to deacons,” said Neymeyr on ZDF. In the Catholic Church, the ordained offices from deacon to priest to bishop are reserved only for men. “We are far outside the consensus in society,” said Neymeyr.
At the press conference before the opening of the Catholic Day, the bishop pointed out that during the GDR era, Catholics in the East had a special relationship of trust with bishops because of the repression by the political system. Here, Catholics are not quite as critical of the Vatican. “That’s why I don’t see the impatience as being quite so great.”
“Man of Peace”
In addition to internal church issues such as the role of women or the abuse scandal, the Catholic Day will also address important contemporary issues such as war and peace, populism and democracy. Many politicians have announced that they will be attending in the coming days, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens).
The motto of the meeting is “The future is for people of peace.” The Central Committee of German Catholics – the umbrella organization of lay people in the church – declared in advance that they support the right to self-defense. However, violence may only be used if it is legitimized by international law and based on international agreements. Armed force should only be used as a last resort. The ZdK general assembly also decided to examine the church’s complicity in the criminalization of queer identities in the past.
According to the German Bishops’ Conference, there are 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. 20.9 million of them lived in Germany in 2022, which corresponds to about 25 percent of the population. The diocese of Erfurt had around 137,000 church members.