A majority of the participants in the Synodal Way, the reform debate between Catholic clerics and lay people, want more separation of powers in the Church. 164 of the 212 synodals present voted in Frankfurt on Friday for a corresponding basic text, 30 against, eight abstained.
In the 40-page paper, chaired by Essen’s Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck and the Vice-President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Claudia Lücking-Michels, the authors speak out in favor of a separation of powers at all levels and more participation by the grassroots Appointment of public officials.
In concrete terms, nothing follows from this vote: The text is now being discussed again by the Synodal Forum “Power and the Separation of Powers”, where it will be further revised. There had been around 200 amendments to the text. It is only to be finally adopted in the second reading, at a third synodal assembly, which will probably take place in 2022.
In the afternoon, representatives of the Advisory Council on Affected Bishops of the German Bishops’ Conference spoke. “As long as German bishops continue to deny that abuse has systemic causes in particular and that many of these systemic causes are structurally anchored in our church, we are still at the very beginning of the path,” said Johanna Beck and Kai Christian Moritz.
In the subsequent debate, Regensburg’s Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer spoke up: He was missing a reference to all efforts to come to terms with it before 2018, the year in which the MHG study on systemic causes of abuse was published. “I know the tears of those affected, but I also know that there is peace if you distinguish concern for the victims from church-political agendas,” said Voderholzer.
“What I refuse is an emotionalization”
In the diocese of Regensburg, Voderholzer had consistently dealt with the abuse of the Regensburger Domspatzen since he took office in 2013, and those affected and experts now describe the deal as successful. In the Synodal Way, however, Voderholzer is an avowed critic of fundamental church reforms. He cannot be said to be insensitive, said Voderholzer. “What I reject is emotionalization and the infallible teaching post of those affected.”
Several synodals sharply contradicted this choice of words, spoke of a “discourse shift” and called the statement “a cheek”. Essen’s Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck also spoke up: “We are the people of God and can only be the light of the world if we really deal seriously with the tears and difficult life situations of so many people affected, that is why one can also speak of the teaching office of those affected It is doctrine that brings them close to Jesus. This is the only truly infallible magisterium. “
Johannes Norpoth from the Advisory Board for Affected Persons then turned to the Pope’s ambassador, the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, who was sitting a few meters away from him, and had a request: “Your Excellency, I assume that you are reporting to the Holy Father about this meeting,” said Norpoth . “Please convey the greetings of those affected in Germany to the Holy Father, but also our helplessness, irritation and speechlessness. I am ashamed of this church.”
The question of whether bishops should be elected and their terms of office limited was also controversial. “We can live well with the fact that bishops are controlled, it is good for us to be accountable to the faithful,” said Mainz Bishop Peter Kohlgraf. “But I don’t want to imagine regular bishopric election campaigns.” The candidates for the office of bishop would then also be different, said Kohlgraf.
In the end, the Vatican would have to agree to key points in the discussion. A blocking clause is also provided for in the Synodal Way itself: a text is only deemed to have been accepted if two thirds of the entire Synodal Assembly and an additional two thirds of the bishops agree. So it can happen that two thirds of all synodals agree, but not the two thirds required for the bishops. Then the text would have failed.