Theologian wants Vatican III so women can be ordained
The Church must march on through time and not float around, Wolfgang Beinert told the Catholic News Agency (KNA). In doing so, it is necessary to recognise the "signs of the times", as called for by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The professor taught dogmatics at the University of Regensburg from 1978 to 1998. He will be 90 years old on 4 March.
Beinert criticised that the so-called conservatives usually see the term "time" negatively: "What is the spirit of time? There may be evil spirits involved, but perhaps also the Holy Spirit." The word of the Apostle Paul applies, he said, who advised to examine everything and keep what is good. In view of the current state of the Church, the theologian added: "If, like the Church over the years, you do not really act according to the Word of God, you will go into the abyss.
Synod only a "talking shop"?
With regard to the worldwide synodal process initiated by Pope Francis, the dogmatist said that the surveys in the countries were worth a lot. But it remains to be seen whether the Synod is only a "talking shop" in which the children are allowed to say where the shoe is pinching them - or whether such a body will ultimately have decision-making power. In order to clarify questions of celibacy or the ordination of women, only a new Council could help, Beinert said. But the Curia in Rome fears this more "than the devil fears holy water".
Beinert comes from Wroclaw. He studied philosophy and theology in Bamberg, Rome, Tübingen and Regensburg. He was ordained priest in Rome in 1959. He earned his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and his habilitation in Tübingen and Regensburg was supervised by Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022). Beinert was also his research assistant. The Bamberg diocesan priest has been a pastor at his home in Pentling near Regensburg since 1978.
His academic career has taken the theologian to Freiburg im Breisgau, the Ruhr University in Bochum, the University of Bamberg, the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg and back to Regensburg. He has written standard works such as the Handbuch der Marienkunde and the Lexikon der Katholischen Dogmatik. For some years Beinert has also been producing videos on YouTube with Sunday meditations on the Gospel of the day.
German Catholics continue to focus on reforms in the Synodal Path
In the midst of one of the most serious crises, the reform project of the Catholic Church in Germany is entering a preliminary round. From Thursday to Saturday, 230 bishops and lay people will meet for the fourth plenary assembly of the so-called Synodal Path in Frankfurt. The main topics are how to deal with power, the role of women, the life of priests and a possible reorientation of Catholic sexual morality.
.jpeg)
Comments