Top Catholic layman in Germany slammed down by Bishop

He considers himself the guardian of the German Bishops and reads them the riot act regularly. But now he has attracted to himself a resounding slap in the face - from a Bishop.

On Friday evening, the press office of the Diocese of Regensburg sharply rejected allegations from the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Hans Joachim Meyer.

The Central Committee of German Catholics is a steering group of representatives of Catholic lay organizations in Germany, with headquarters in Bonn.

Hans Joachim Meyer (71) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union.

About the press, he had accused the Bishop of Regensburg, Monsignor Gerhard Ludwig Müller (60), of keeping away from the farewell Mass for the emeritus archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter. It was "unseemly" and showed a "bad style."

The Bishop of Regensburg had a diary clash and was in Stammham , a parish with 3,600-souls- in the region of Eichstatt. There, he celebrated a Pontifical Mass, took part in a procession and blessed the construction of a kindergarten.

The reasons from the Bishop

The Press Office noted that the bishop had apologised for his absence from the Munich church service several weeks ago. He was represented by the two Regensburg Auxiliary Bishops , Monsignor Reinhard Pappenberger (49) and Monsignor Vincent Guggenberger (78).

According to the Press Office, the date in the parish of Stammham was fixed months ago. The parish had been intensely and painstakingly prepared for this day: "Nobody would have sympathy for a rejection at short notice."

Slap in the face for Meyer

Then the press release turned its attention to the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics.

It is not one of his tasks to be a style consultant for the German bishops: "Especially when one of the reasons is that someone who wasn’t there cannot know."

Meyer's remained faithful to his own "style" - the quotation marks in the original text. He makes diagnoses at a distance from outside, without getting informed directly and likes his self-imposed role of judging the bishops:

"It would be good if Herr Meyer would judge his verbal circular letters by his own rules."

"This statement is banal"

Meyer also criticized the 18 February press release of the Bishop of Regensburg.

In it Monsignor Müller stated on the pro-celibacy statements by Archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch that "in a quick interview about the priesthood and celibacy, not everything could be detailed sufficiently to satisfy theological standards."

Meyer commented on this statement with the observation: "An interview is not a dissertation."

"This statement is not trivial" - the Bishop’s Press Office. The opinion of the Regensburg Chief Pastor had been clear "that complex topics such as the question of celibacy, need to be more accurately illuminated."

In the interview, which had tried to cover many issues, the important and difficult question of celibacy could not be answered in a sufficiently detailed way.

The unfair instrumentalization of statements by Archbishop Zollitsch in their use for agitation against the priestly celibacy must be countered –concluded the press office of the Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference in his defence.

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