German Catholic worry about gendered organisational names, forgetting devotion to the Holy Name

When the Secretary General of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Marc Frings, asked on Twitter after the Stuttgart Katholikentag last year for ideas on how to improve future Katholikentagen- Catholic Days, he was presented with numerous suggestions. One wish that was expressed several times concerned something fundamental - the name of the meeting. "The name must change! It's time to finally say Katholik*innentag, traditions or not," wrote Christian Toussaint, the Essen Diocesan chair of the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ). The university priest, Burkhard Hose, sounded the same trumpet directly below: "... by all means, unite the name!".

Even if the discussion about a gender-appropriate renaming of the tradition-rich event died down again soon afterwards - it is likely to pick up speed again at the latest for next year's Katholikentag in Erfurt (29 May to 2 June 2024). Even the negative attitude of the host bishop Ulrich Neymeyr should not change this. When asked last year in an interview with katholisch.de what he thought about a possible renaming of the Katholikentag to Katholik*innentag, he said: "I take a critical view of that. For one thing, the term 'Katholikentag' would never give me the idea that this is only an event for men. And for another, I fundamentally dislike the gender spelling with asterisk or underscore; I don't think that's the right solution either."

The "gender spirit" is also out of the bottle in the Catholic Church

But the "gender spirit" has long been out of the bottle in the Catholic Church, too, and the debate about discrimination-sensitive and inclusive language is in full swing beyond the Katholikentag. Partly, it is only about gender-appropriate wording in press releases and other texts of dioceses and other Catholic institutions. Partly - see the example of the Katholikentag - it is also about the question of a possible renaming of well-known Catholic institutions that have so far only used the masculine form in their names.

"The name 'Central Committee of German Catholics' has grown historically. The name is brand essence - from that point of view, a decision to change it cannot be taken lightly."

- Quote: ZdK Secretary General Marc Frings

This also applies, for example, to the ZdK, which, according to its name, has so far only included Catholics, but not Catholic women. In recent years, there have been repeated and still rather timid demands to change the name of the highest representation of the Catholic laity in Germany to reflect gender. And if you do some research on the internet, you will find that individual church institutions such as the Diocesan Councils of Catholics in the Archdioceses of Cologne and Munich and Freising and the Paderborn Diocesan Association of the Catholic Women's Association of Germany (kfd) already refer to the Central Committee of German Catholics - almost subversively - at least in some texts on their websites.

But it is not officially that far yet - and whether it will ever get that far is also not yet clear. "The name 'Central Committee of German Catholics' has grown historically. The name is the core of the brand - therefore a decision to change it cannot be taken lightly," explains Secretary General Frings in response to a question from katholisch.de. At the same time, however, he emphasises that it is important to him that the members of the Central Committee give their opinion on this question - for example, within the framework of the reform process currently underway, in which the statute and the rules of procedure of the ZdK are to be revised. "If a majority is in favour of adapting or changing our name, the plenary assembly should take action. So the future will show whether the members want a change of this label - or continue to give priority to its origin in a particular time history," Frings said.

"To create awareness of diversity": ZdK gendert all texts

He also points out that the ZdK General Assembly decided in April 2021 to gender all ZdK texts: "This concerns resolutions and declarations, press releases and all other forms of public and internal speech and language. We decided this to create awareness of the diversity of society and to accord human dignity to every social gender - not just men and women." He said the decision would also better reflect the diversity within the ZdK, while at the same time translating "this learning experience" into the political positionings of the Central Committee. "Thus, we very much welcome the fact that the federal government is working for the abolition of the transsexual law and for the introduction of the self-determination law," Frings emphasised.

The Catholic Workers' Movement (KAB) is also discussing the possibility of changing its traditional name. Press spokesperson Matthias Rabbe confirmed this in an interview with katholisch.de. Whether to include women workers in the association's name in future is being discussed within the association, "but we have not yet reached that point". The partner federation in Austria, on the other hand, has: at the request of the Carinthian KAB, the federation changed its name to Katholische Arbeitnehmer/innen-Bewegung Österreichs (KABÖ) in October 1993. At least Rabbe points out that the German KAB has had equal representation on the executive board for decades and always addresses both genders in its publications.

In terms of renaming, the Society of Catholic Publicists (GKP) could soon set a new standard among Catholic associations in Germany. At the General Assembly in June, the Executive Committee will submit a motion to change the name of the association to "Gesellschaft Katholischer Publizistinnen und Publizisten Deutschlands" (Society of Catholic Publicists of Germany). At the same time, revised versions of the statutes and rules of procedure in gender-sensitive language are to be adopted. "75 years after the founding of our association, we want to take into account the equality of the sexes, which is practised as a matter of course, also in the name of the association," says GKP chairman Joachim Frank in response to a question from katholisch.de.

Is the GKP leading the way within the Catholic associations?

According to Frank, the draft resolution, which had been prepared for some time, is only now being put to the vote because during the years of the Corona pandemic there had not been sufficient opportunity for a broad exchange among the GKP members on this topic. In the run-up to the general meeting, all interested parties were given the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of a renaming.

If the GKP members vote in favour of their board's proposal in June, the association will be making significant progress towards more gender equality in language within the German Catholic associations. Whether other Catholic institutions will soon follow this example remains to be seen. The fact that some traditional associations do not (yet) attach great importance to the topic or prefer to ignore it altogether is perhaps also shown by the fact that several associations such as the Bund Katholischer Unternehmer - Federation of Catholic Entrepreneurs (BKU)- Assleft corresponding questions from katholisch.de unanswered.

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