Head of German Bishops has an audience with the Pope

Bishop Bätzing visits the Pope: Leo accompanies the German Church "with trust"

Georg Bätzing still knows Pope Leo XIV as Robert Francis Prevost. 

It was the first meeting between the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference and the new head of the Church. How the encounter went.

Pope Leo XIV received the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), Bishop Georg Bätzing, in a private audience on Thursday. The Vatican announced this without providing further details. It was the first meeting between Bätzing and Leo XIV since his election as Pope on May 8. The deputy chairman of the DBK, Bishop Michael Gerber, participated in the inauguration of the new head of the Church.

Before his election as Pope, Robert Francis Prevost, Leo XIV's real name, headed the Vatican's Office for Bishops. This dicastery is a kind of human resources department for the universal Church. In this role, he met with Bätzing several times – both within the framework of the World Synod for greater participation of all Catholics and as a discussion partner in the deliberations on the progress of the German reform project "Synodal Path" in the Vatican.

Bätzing: Good conversation

The DBK published Bätzing's assessment of the meeting this afternoon. He thanked Leo for the "good and meaningful conversation." The Pope was an "attentive listener and interested pastor." Many topics were discussed, which Bätzing will report on at the upcoming autumn plenary assembly of German bishops in Fulda. He stated that he was "very happy" that Leo XIV was accompanying the Church in Germany "with trust."

The head of the Church will soon have to make several important decisions: Not only will he have to decide on the appointment of bishops to the bishoprics in Münster and Eichstätt, but he will also have to respond to the complaint filed by the DBK's Advisory Council for Victims against Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. Furthermore, the future of the planned nationwide Synodal body remains uncertain.

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Cathcon  Trustworthy is not how I would describe the German Church.  The word, "Vertrauen" can mean both "trust" and "confidence".  Who would have confidence in the German Church since the Council to present anything but heresy and confusion?