Catholic Church teaching on abortion being relativised in Germany due to Pope Francis

Journalist sees change in church with regard to abortion

“More differentiated view”

In the 1990s, the Catholic Church in Germany struggled over its position on abortion. Christoph Strack observed the dispute as a journalist. The church had to learn to take women's freedom seriously.

DOMRADIO.DE: The Catholic Church's withdrawal from state pregnancy conflict counseling had its origins in a political dispute and decision, which in turn is linked to the name Rita Süssmuth. Which was that?

Christoph Strack (editor at Deutsche Welle and long-time employee at the Catholic News Agency / KNA): The origin ultimately came from the reunification of Germany. It was therefore clear that Western law and Eastern law had to be combined on various legal issues.

A demanding task was the question of the legal regulation of abortion, which was handled very freely in the GDR and was legally limited in the Federal Republic. When it came to creating a legal basis, Rita Süssmuth, who was already President of the Bundestag at the time, became one of those who tried to bring together women from different camps, from different factions and, especially within the Union side, emphasized women's perspectives advertise and not pass on a legal basis to women.

She later described herself as a Catholic feminist. But the aim was, on the one hand, to bring together the perspectives of West and East, but on the other hand to also include the perspective of protecting life.

Rita Süssmuth was also influenced by Catholic guidelines. But at the same time, she wanted to create a consensus, a compromise that everyone can live with, that involves all sides and that also legally stands up before the Federal Constitutional Court.

That was a compromise that came about after two attempts. In 1992 there was a legal regulation from the Bundestag. There was a second attempt in 1995 according to the requirements, which were limited by the Federal Constitutional Court. This is basically the law of Section 218 StGB that still applies today.

DOMRADIO.DE: Rita Süssmuth encountered resistance from the CDU parliamentary group and also from Chancellor Helmut Kohl. How did the Catholic Church in Germany react to this at the time?

"Rita Süssmuth was quickly the red flag."

Strack: Rita Süssmuth quickly became the red flag. She was someone who was targeted by conservative and reactionary forces. But on the other hand, for many of those who worked, for example, at the Catholic Women's Association, the German Catholic Women's Community or in Caritas circles, she quickly became something of the other face of the CDU. A face that explicitly included the female perspective.

Until then, there was no one from the CDU side who, as a woman, could take on a position such as the Presidency of the Bundestag. For the first time, she embodied a female face of Christian Democratic politics with such force. That's why she was an attractive figure.

You shouldn't compare all of this with today. In the early 1990s you could also meet Rita Süssmuth shopping at the market in Bonn on Saturdays. That would be impossible today, knowing how heated political debates are today.

But there were many statements at the time that were certainly harsh for Rita Süssmuth. There were many conversations or many moments when Chancellor Kohl asked himself which woman he had involved in politics.

Rita Süssmuth was someone who changed the face of the CDU with this influence after 1990, after reunification, and who is still a Catholic today and helped shape politics.

DOMRADIO.DE: It took until 1999 for the Catholic Church to come to terms with whether or not it should remain in this state-run pregnancy conflict counseling service. How come?

Strack: The dispute escalated in 1999, but it had been there since the early 1990s, parallel to state legislation. During state legislation, there were also church experts at the hearings in the Bundestag and church statements during the Bundestag's decisions.

There were also MPs from various factions who had conversations with the then head of the Catholic Office, Father Paul Bocklet, out of emotional distress. That is clear. But the church's development began in 1993, when Archbishop Johannes Dyba was the first bishop ever to say that he was withdrawing from a pregnancy counseling service where this certificate was issued and he was legally bound with this stamp.

Dyba said very clearly, very transparently in 1993: I'm gone. But the other German dioceses were completely in this system. However, there was growing pressure from Rome, which was initially only expressed through instructions and requests, that they not take part in this system.

It was only in 1998 that this became more stringent in a letter from Pope John Paul II, in which he wrote this to the German bishops as a clear, binding requirement. There was then a struggle as to what scope one could be there and how much leeway the Pope would still give you. Incidentally, it was not only John Paul II as Pope who put the pressure on it, but also from Joseph Ratzinger, who was then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and from Cardinal Sodano in the Vatican. There was already pressure that was building up from different sides.

It then escalated from 1998 to 1999, sometimes for weeks or days, then it subsided somewhat. But it was probably the topic that the Catholic Church was constantly making headlines in the media during those months, because it was such a back and forth, at a pace that would be much quicker today.

Back then, something wasn't sent via email at the same time and you had the answer an hour later. Often things weren't entirely transparent and letters were often passed around, influence was exerted, people waited and there was no opportunity to talk to the Vatican.

Sometimes it is perhaps comparable to what the ZdK is experiencing today when it simply concerns the question of the possibility of talks with the Vatican. There are people who have more wires and others who have less wires.

And there were meetings of the Permanent Council, which was previously unimaginable, at which, for example, the reaction to the Pope's letter in 1998 was discussed.

Christoph Strack

"You could tell how the entire society was looking with anticipation to see whether the Catholic Church could somehow get a handle on coming to terms with the current political events."

In Himmelspforten near Würzburg, at the meeting location of the Council, 50 journalists and camera teams suddenly stood in front of the door and filmed bishops' cars driving away, almost none of which only stopped briefly and Cardinal Lehmann may have said a sentence as he drove out.

It was noticeable how the entire society was looking with anticipation to see whether the Catholic Church could somehow get a handle on coming to terms with current political events.

DOMRADIO.DE: What ultimately led to the German Bishops' Conference saying that it would completely withdraw from state pregnancy conflict counseling?

Strack: The decisive step was actually the Pope's instruction: You have to get out of this system. Point. It was no longer a wish of the Holy Father, but rather an obligatory requirement of the Pope after several years of tug-of-war about whether a path could somehow be maintained through linguistic shells.

This binding requirement from the Pope was certainly also influenced by the Cologne Cardinal's good network. Cardinal Joachim Meisner certainly used his influence. But once this expectation was clear, the Bishops' conference tried to say that it was not abandoning people, that it was not abandoning women, and that it would continue to make its offers of help public and expand them; but also that she no longer fills out this form.

When this step was clear on the part of the bishops, leading laypeople, who had been pushing the Lehmann course a bit in previous years, went out and founded the association "donum vitae", with which pregnancy conflict counseling was offered in the future. at the end of which a woman received a counseling certificate.

The crucial press conference for the founding was in Fulda, basically 500 steps away from the general assembly of the bishops' conference that was meeting at the same time. It was clear that the bishops were putting up a stake and saying that they would no longer follow this path and would get out of this state advisory system.

At the same time, the lay initiative said it continues to offer it so as not to leave women alone. This was based on the hope that we would also reach women who actually come to the consultation and have made up their minds and only want this appearance, but that women can also be persuaded to refrain from having an abortion.

That was the point between 1998 and 1999 when things quickly changed and “donum vitae” emerged as an initiative that is still active today.

DOMRADIO.DE: What has happened in the Catholic Church in the last 25 to 30 years in terms of its position on abortion?

Strack: What has changed is that there is a tug of war about how this male-dominated church has to come to terms with taking women's freedom seriously and at the same time standing up for this protection of life.

The question is whether you achieve more by emphasizing so much the protection of unborn life, which is obligatory and which also shaped the reputation of John Paul II, or whether it is worth hurting women who perhaps already do are helpless, defenseless and looking for help. That is basically the dilemma that is always associated with it.

This more nuanced view is perhaps more common in the church environment today. When you hear some of Pope Francis' statements today, you can imagine that he would certainly never have formulated the strictness of guidelines that his holy predecessor John Paul II did. Because Pope Francis constantly says: We have to go after the injured. We are responsible for everyone's field hospital.

This simply makes it clear: Don't leave anyone alone who is in a desperate situation, who needs help, who has to protect their life or something similar. This awareness has certainly grown within the Catholic Church or among Catholic believers.

donum vitae

The Donum Vitae (Gift of Life) association was founded in 1999 by Catholic laypeople in the wake of the Catholic German bishops' withdrawal from the statutory system of pregnancy conflict counseling with the issuance of counseling certificates. When advising pregnant women in conflict situations, he chooses a path that the Vatican rejects: After the consultation, the employees issue the certificate required by law upon request. This opens up access to an abortion without punishment.

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