Head of German Catholic laity attacks Vatican

A few days before the start of the fifth and final Synodal Assembly, the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Irme Stetter-Karp, has criticised the Vatican's behaviour regarding the reform course of the Catholic Church in Germany. "I am definitely disappointed with Rome and its refusal to talk to us directly," she told the "Rheinische Post" (Monday edition). "I don't think that's good style, when at the same time powerful guns are always being brought up against us."

Thus, according to Stetter-Karp, it would have been more helpful to seek direct dialogue than to always operate with letters. "For it is precisely the contents of these letters that prove the many misunderstandings that are spreading in Rome. A face-to-face conversation would have the chance to reduce a lot of unfounded mistrust."

Taking the German Special Path to the Seizure of Power

The 67-year-old, who is also President of the reform initiative, "Synodal Path", is alluding to the recent letter from Rome, according to which no bishops' conference is authorised to establish a body like the Synodal Council. This reaction had been provoked by the request of five German bishops whether they would be allowed or obliged to participate in the preparations for a Synodal Council. Among them were the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, and Bishops Bertram Meier of Augsburg and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg. ZDK President Stetter-Karp, on the other hand, has no doubts about the legitimacy of a Synodal Council to continue the reform process: "We are not doing this blindly but know about the possibilities which exist for us - for example, with the formation of a Synodal Committee and later a Synodal Council. Against this background, one really has to ask where the energy comes from to badmouth this path and to present it as if it were a special path."

The talk of the so-called "German Special Path" was a stereotype from the beginning. But she also perceives that the five bishops who wrote the letter to Rome "express fears of a division of the Church". No one who bears responsibility for the Synodal Path is looking for any kind of split - but always only a way to the future of the local Church in Germany.

However, Stetter-Karp said, one must also ask oneself how much change one can and should expect of the Church. "And what confidence do we have that the Church will be able to shape these changes? Courage for the future and courage for change play an essential role in our understanding of the challenges facing the Catholic Church in the 21st century." Should the reform initiative of the Synodal Path, fail, it would be, according to her, "a failure not least for the German bishops themselves if, via an act of coercion and obedience, if the creation of a Synodal Council was prevented from being achieved." It would certainly "cause great disappointment if that were to happen".

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