Bishop warns against a German National Church

This is the second time within a short period of time that Bishop Bertram Meier has attracted attention for his closeness to arch-conservative circles.

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The Bishop of Augsburg re-iterates his criticism of the "Synodal Way" reform process at a congress of the arch-conservative association, Forum of German Catholics.

Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg re-iterated his criticism of the "Synodal Way" at the three-day "Joy of Faith" congress in Regensburg, which ended on Sunday. This began in 2019 as a reaction to the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. While progressive believers associate it with the hope of reforms, (arch-)conservatives see it as the trigger of a schism.

Meier, who is very sceptical about the reform process between the German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics, warned according to Vatican News: "We must not go the German way, which in the end leads to a German national church. He forebodes bad things if it is not possible to create framework conditions for the synodal path that are in harmony with Rome.

In 2019, the "Joy of Faith" congress caused irritation - because of its alleged proximity to AfD positions.

The Forum of German Catholics, which organised the congress, is an arch-conservative association whose proximity to AfD positions made headlines in 2019. Its congress in Ingolstadt at the time had caused irritation right up to the top of the Eichstätt diocese - as a result, the congress came to Regensburg, where it has a long-time supporter in Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer there. The chairman of the Forum of German Catholics, Hubert Gindert from Kaufering, was now quoted as saying: The Synodal Way is using the sexual abuse scandal as "leverage for other goals".

It is already the second time within a short time that Augsburg's Bishop Bertram Meier has attracted attention with his closeness to arch-conservative circles. At the end of May, he ordained candidates for the priesthood of the traditionalist Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter as deacons in the Allgäu region - the first acting German diocesan bishop ever to do so.