Leading Synodalist perpetually on brink of leaving Church

The duty of radical renewal

A youth worker's perspective on the transformation of the Catholic Church

Young people in particular, who have grown up in a democratic-pluralistic society, expect their church to adhere to the standards of modernity and to make its ministry as a proclaimer of the Gospel humane and people-friendly.

The Catholic Church is in a state of change and is being scrutinised as rarely before, especially in Germany. The reason for this are numerous crises that are interrelated: The mass and systemic sexualised violence, the cover-up of abuse cases, the continuing abuse of power and its concentration on individuals, the dwindling relevance in a plural society, the acts and attitudes of contempt for humanity and human rights violations, the numerous church resignations, the hostility to democracy, the financial scandals and much more. Above all, young people who have grown up in a democratic-pluralistic society expect their church to adhere to the standards of modernity and to make its ministry as a proclaimer of the Gospel humane and human-friendly. So it is not surprising that many people ask themselves whether they can still represent and live their faith in this church institution. Many look for other ways to do so and leave the church.

I myself am struggling with my remaining in the church. Almost every day I ask myself when the point is reached where I have to leave. Almost every day I have to justify to myself why I can (still) stay in this institution that hurts people in their deepest identity, inflicts violence on them. And I perceive the same inner conflict in many youth workers. And I can understand and appreciate both decisions: Those who leave because they have the courage to live their faith in a different way, because they give up a piece of their identity and thus make clear how broken this church is, because they dare to take a step that I have so far shied away from. And those who stay, because they show that church is not only the "official church" of bishops, priests and ordinariates, because they shape their church despite fierce criticism and try to change it, because despite the strongest inner struggles they have the courage and confidence that they can make a difference in this church. I belong to the latter and stay because I have come to know church mainly in the youth associations. These are a form of church that is democratic, where offices can be held by all people, they are elected and temporary, a form of church in which children and young people organise themselves and create their own structures, determine their own topics and shape how they live their faith, a form of church that tries to meet all people openly and accept them as they are. And at the same time I know that I can also live this youth-associated form of church without being a formal member of the Catholic Church. So far I remain and at this stage I cannot say what needs to happen for it to change. I reflect on it almost daily and will know when it does.

I see my role as one of transparency, of addressing what is uncomfortable, of clarifying findings of hurt and disruption.

As long as I am BDKJ Federal President, one of my tasks is to represent the interests of children and young people and especially the youth associations in the church. They expect a clear and loud voice for change. They expect someone who does not just focus on compromise, but makes it clear where the church needs to go in order to be people-centred and true to the Gospel. I understand my role as a person who creates transparency, who addresses the uncomfortable, who clarifies findings about hurts and disturbances. And my role is misunderstood as being a troublemaker, a rabble-rouser and unwilling to compromise. On the one hand, the latter is not correct, because in the Synodal Path alone I have made compromises a hundred times and have campaigned for every change in this church, no matter how small - at the same time, however, it must be said what children and young people expect beyond the textual proposals. On the other hand, there must be no compromise on certain issues. With the publication of the so-called MHG study, it has been proven that sexualised violence has systemic causes and risk factors. This means that these causes and risk factors have a global impact, because the systems and structures of the Church are centralised in the Vatican. And they must be eliminated so that we can prevent sexual violence, sexual abuse, abuse of power and spiritual abuse. As long as the systems of the church are not changed in depth, the church continues to allow this suffering. Thus, there can be no solution that falls short of this. In the Synodal Path, the reference to Rome and the universal Church, to listening to each other and compromising with each other, to bringing together progressive and reactionary persons, to tradition and to carefully changing the Church is not helpful.

Cathcon: Outrageous use of the scandal to attempt to deplatform traditionalists and conservatives 

Therefore, the Church in Germany must find a solution to change these grievances when the Vatican blocks other solutions. It cannot be true to the Church, not in accordance with the Gospel or God's will to allow abuse.

Hurtful, suffering, violent structures, systems, attitudes and cultures must be changed immediately. Maintaining them must not be the solution. Therefore, the Church in Germany must find a solution to change these abuses when the Vatican blocks other solutions. It cannot be true to the Church, not in accordance with the Gospel or God's will to allow abuse. And even if we see that the Church is changing in tiny steps, this is not enough, because what is needed now is a root-and-branch change in the Catholic Church and its (mis)teaching. I believe that if those responsible for the Church do not understand and want to admit this - and everything indicates that the protection of the institution and their own power is still most important and no understanding or change has begun - then this Church will (have to) destroy itself and only in the building of a new Church that does justice to Jesus will it be transformed.

This sounds radical and in the last place it is. But apparently this radicalism is needed to do justice to the inconceivable extent of the transgressions of this church. A system that is so abusive must be changed to the core. And this applies especially to the Catholic Church, which wants to change the world just as radically with its message, because Jesus changed the world radically to the point of death and beyond. The Church must first start with itself. I am called a "radical reformer" within this church and sometimes ridiculed for this opinion. But on the one hand, the alternative must be asked for, because there must not be a "business as usual", and on the other hand, in our liberal democratic society, my attitude is a middle-of-the-road attitude. And that alone shows how far the Church is off the mark in today's world with its misanthropic teachings. The Church has the task of conveying the message of God's radical love for people, before all performance and despite all guilt, and it does not manage to align its own systems, its own structure, its own attitude and culture, even its own doctrines accordingly.

And we as youth associations must also look at ourselves and let ourselves be questioned at what point we have supported and sustained the church in its hurtful way.

And we as youth associations must also look at ourselves and be questioned about where we have supported and sustained the church in its hurtful ways. This is also radically eliminating in our own ranks. That is also my task. It is unpleasant, it is difficult, it hurts me in my identity - but this pain of possibly questioning structures that I have grown to love and that I myself have come to know as strengthening and shaping my personality is small compared to the suffering and violence that the church has inflicted and continues to inflict on people. At the same time, the youth associations can claim to be significantly different from the Roman-centralised "official church". They already show that a democratic, people-friendly, participatory, child- and youth-friendly church is possible. A church in which people move in a self-determined way, in which people can find and shape their own structures in a self-organised way, in which faith can be lived worldwide and is protected as a common good even without a concentration of power in a hierarchical system. As long as children and young people in the youth associations work for their church and shape it in this way, I will represent their interests as part of this church with pride in view of these wonderful people in the associations, as an ally for vulnerable groups and for diversity, and as a Catholic. I want to be a loud voice of change for them.

Source