Cardinal sticks knife into the back of Bishop Mixa

Translated from the super-excellent Kreuz.net.

The Bishop of Augsburg is being knifed in “a brotherly fashion” at the German Bishops’ Conference but he remains steadfast. What he said, he has said and he would say it again.

The Chairman of the Bishops’ Conference, Karl, Cardinal Lehmann admonished the Augsburg Bishop Dr Walter Mixa on his statements on German family policy. The public admonishment was published in the regional newspaper, Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung.

The Cardinal stated his criticism after the meeting of the Permanent Council of the German Bishops’ Conference which had been held in the Holy Land last Thursday.

Cardinal Lehmann considers the drastic choice of words by the Bishop of Augsburg to be wrong.

“Bishop Mixa should have considered more deeply that many parents have no relatives living near them and have to rely on children’s nursery facilities”, criticised Cardinal Lehmann.

He adds, trying to be as wise as Solomon, he added that the Bishop of Augsburg’s criticism uncovered and sharpened the inadequate family policy of the Christian Democrats.

The expression “child bearing machines” will be used again.

Bishop Mixa defends his statements. He spoke to the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung on Wednesday. He would re-use the term “child bearing machines” again.

He was worried that his concerns would not be taken seriously if they were formulated differently. He sees this term as “a provocative challenge”. Bishop Mixa had warned on the 22nd February that mothers who are encouraged to hand over their child directly after birth would be degraded into “child bearing machines”.

In his latest interview he emphasised that he is solely concerned for the “choice in child nursery care”.

“In order to draw attention to something it is often necessary to use provocative words.” Monsignor Mixa has received an 80 percent approval in his post for his outspoken words on this matter.


Cathcon comments:
Correction to my earlier comment, Bishop Mixa is determined to stand-by his first comments, not least now because of the unhelpful posture of Cardinal Lehmann.

The Cardinal and the Bishop

The Cardinal preaches ecumenism but is incapable of practicising it with his fellow Bishops.