Lay theologians from all over the world network in Rome. They claim “It’s not about a declaration of war”
Before the bishops come together for the world synod in Rome, pastoral speakers and other lay theologians from all over the world will meet there for the first time. They want to influence the world Synod, but do not see this as a declaration of war.
DOMRADIO.DE: Mr. Bischoff, you are a parish representative in the diocese of Munich and Freising. Why are lay people needed to take responsibility for communities?
Konstantin Bischoff is a pastoral assistant and parish representative of the parish of Herz Jesu in Munich and received his doctorate from the Philosophical-Theological University of Sankt Georgen in 2020. He is a member of the Assembly of the Synodal Path. He believes the Papacy is the last absolutist monarchy in the world.
Konstantin Bischoff (Pastoral Officer in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising): As a rule, a parish has a pastor. There is an option in canon law for specialists: Canon 517, §2 states that in times of a shortage of priests, parishes can also be led by laypeople under certain circumstances. In concrete terms, this means that a priest colleague and I run the parish together.
Why is this needed? I believe this is because the church is always constituted in a specific place. The possibility here is that a place has reliable contacts, even where a huge merger would otherwise be needed.
DOMRADIO.DE: Now the profession of pastoral advisor is not widespread worldwide. It is available in German-speaking countries and in the Netherlands. Why is this a concept that has spread primarily among us?
Bischoff: It is certainly first and foremost a financial question, because money is needed to be able to employ professional theologians. But at the same time it is a fruit that arose a little more than 50 years ago from the realities of young people who worked for the church but did not want to become priests. At first only men, later also women.
It started in Germany and developed further in the Netherlands. There are also colleagues in Austria and Switzerland, but in the Netherlands they are currently declining significantly.
In the preparation of our "World Meeting" we discover that there are analogous things in completely different parts of the world that have the same theological idea. People who work for the church without being ordained, but with great professionalism and officialdom.
DOMRADIO.DE: How is that different? Who are these people who are theologically active as laypeople in other countries?
For the most part, in the universal church, it is of course religious people who have received appropriate training through their religious life and are active in pastoral areas. This is partly due to a very profound theological education, with studies up to a doctorate and high academic degrees.
Esther Göbel "Of course, the majority of them in the universal church are religious."
DOMRADIO.DE: Do lay theologians have a more difficult time in other countries than in Germany?
Göbel: That is a question of development. It wasn't much different for us a few decades ago, that it was simply a new profession and it was common for priests to have studied theology and lay people not.
The term "lay theologian" alone is a bit difficult because, on the one hand, it combines this very generally understandable word layman with professionalism. What is meant, of course, are the lay people from among the people of God. But almost nobody knows that. In this respect, the word lay theologian almost sounds a bit derogatory. Of course that is not the case at all, because we have the same training as the priests.
This only developed following the Second Vatican Council. Around that time people began to study theology and also go into science, to universities, who were not priests.
Esther Göbel "The word lay theologian almost seems a bit derogatory."
Accordingly, this cannot be said quite so generally for the universal church.
It varies greatly across countries. In the Philippines, for example, this may not be very common, but a lot has been achieved through the "Bukal ng Tipan" Institute alone, where many German dioceses have already gone to get information and education. Women also work very scientifically and academically as theologians.
DOMRADIO.DE: Why is such a “World Meeting” only happening now?
Bischoff: Every idea first needs an idea source. European networking has existed among pastoral advisors for many years. Looking at the world now is certainly the trigger for the global synod. Because it has become clear when we look at the preparatory documents that some questions, such as an exaltation of the priesthood and the call for less clericalism, arise everywhere. This also broadened our perspective again.
It is also certainly true that four of us, including both of us, were members of the General Assembly of the Synodal Way and also gained a new perspective on common struggles in the universal church.
Konstantin Bischoff "Some questions, such as an exaltation of the priesthood and calls for less clericalism, crop up everywhere."
Cathcon: Anticlericalism is the rhetoric of atheistic socialism. Why are Francis and the Synodalists using it repeatedly? He should read Dr Hahn's Many Are Called: Rediscovering the Glory of the Priesthood and then have a re-think before declaring war on the priesthood.DOMRADIO.DE: You have also planned talks with various Dicasteries and with bishops in Rome. What do you expect there? They will probably not only greet you in a friendly manner with open arms.
Göbel: That's exactly why we're doing it directly in Rome. Because there is actually a somewhat tense relationship between the German Church and Rome at the moment. That cannot be hidden. We are not concerned with a declaration of war, but actually with an offer to talk.
We want to make it clear that this profession, which we now know to be very well established in Germany, does not exist in this organizational form in other world church contexts.
DOMRADIO.DE: The World Synod is the first synod where there will be voting rights for lay people, even in exceptional cases. Do you welcome that?
Göbel: Well, I definitely welcome that. At the same time, it is still open to criticism. Or you could say that there are far too few lay voices in comparison.
Nevertheless, I believe it is the right way and it is a good start that it is no longer just the consecrated bishops meeting with each other, but that there are also voting members who are lay people who come from different parts of the world and also women .
Esther Göbel "It's a good start that it's no longer just the ordained bishops who meet with each other."
Bischoff: During the preparation we are just realizing that it is also the non-episcopal members of the synod who want to network with us again in Rome and want to have a conversation.
However, the question arises here: What is Synod about? To advise or have a say? Despite the lay people's right to make decisions in Rome, in the end everything remains up to the Pope. And we see in the different assessments, for example, of Bishop Bätzing and Bishop Oster at the general assembly of the Bishops' Conference this autumn, how differently this can be assessed. But the rule here is: get going.
DOMRADIO.DE: What can laypeople do better than theologians? Why should they have more weight in the church?
Göbel: I don't think it's about what laypeople can do better. This is definitely a personal component. But what laypeople can definitely bring to the table is precisely the non-clerical view of life. We live in very different ways of life and therefore have personal experiences with certain life situations that a priest simply does not have because of the order in which he has to live. Which doesn't necessarily make him incompetent at the job or less competent.
But nevertheless, it simply serves the diversity of perspectives and lifestyles that all possible topics, all possible ways of life are reflected and thought through theologically and at the same time experience such an offer.
Around the start of the World Synod of Bishops, pastoral ministers from all continents want to exchange ideas in Rome. The first world meeting of this kind aims to strengthen non-ordained, but theologically trained, full-time pastoral workers.
This was announced on the website of the "Berufsverband der Pastoralreferent*innen Deutschlands", which is organising the conference. At the meeting from 1 to 5 October, the pastoral workers from the various cultural circles will also enter into an exchange with various Vatican authorities, such as the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and the Synod Secretariat. In addition, meetings with Bishops of the universal Church are planned.
The goal of the German professional association is to bring together in Rome about 20 lay pastoral workers and theologians from different countries in Africa, Asia, America and Europe. The ministry of the pastoral assistant offers an ecclesiological alternative to the "classical" dualism between clergy and laity, the statement said. The results of the exchange at the world meeting could "influence the processes of the World Synod of Bishops", the professional association hopes. Among the named university professors organising the conference are two from Münster, Christian Bauer and Norbert Köster.
Strong in the German-speaking area
Catholic pastoral assistants are baptised persons with a degree in theology who carry out full-time pastoral ministry. They work with the faithful in parishes or in categorical pastoral care, for example in hospitals, prisons or schools. For the time being, this lay ministry is only known as a defined profession in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. However, men and women in lay ministry are de facto active in similar ministries in many parts of the universal Church.
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