FRANKFURT, Germany (CNS)—The fourth plenary assembly of the Synodal Path in Frankfurt ended Sept. 10 with a series of far-reaching reform resolutions.
They concern, for instance, the position of girls and trans people within the church, sexual morality, gay priests and the longer term national leadership structure of the Catholic Church, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. It said all texts involving changes to church doctrine were formulated as proposals for consideration by the pope and never as independent dogmatic changes by the German church.
KNA reported that several proposals couldn’t be discussed because some debates, which got emotional, took more time than planned. Nevertheless, Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the lay Central Committee of German Catholics, said: “We’ve achieved lots, and we aren’t going to stop here.”
Participants discussed the position of intersex and transgender people within the Catholic Church. An emotional debate centered on a paper calling for more acceptance, with 94.5% voting in favor of it on first reading.
The paper calls for changes, including making it possible in the longer term to omit the gender within the baptismal register or to make use of the term “diverse” when baptizing children with an unclear gender identity, KNA reported. Transgender Catholics ought to be given the chance to have their civil status and first names easily modified within the baptismal register, the paper said.
The fourth plenary assembly of the Synodal Path in Frankfurt ended Sept. 10 with a series of far-reaching reform resolutions.
“If believers who’re transgender or intersex are denied the sacrament of marriage, they need to have the opportunity to have their partnership blessed,” stated the text, which a working group will now revise.
Just once did the Frankfurt assembly come to a standstill. On the very starting, when a fundamental text on the renewal of Catholic sexual morality got here up for a vote, a blocking minority of bishops prevented its adoption, KNA reported. Only 33 out of 60 bishops present voted yes — not enough to realize the required episcopal two-thirds majority. There was great disappointment among the many majority; tears flowed and members of sexual minorities left the gathering in protest.
The conference presidium drew lessons from the upset. The speaking time was doubled to 2 minutes. The representatives of the conservative minority, including a variety of bishops, were in a position to present their concerns in a more nuanced manner, and a serious debate ensued, in the midst of which some opinions apparently modified, KNA reported.
As well as, a measure was introduced by Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the bishops’ conference. Before each sensitive vote, he called the bishops together for a separate 20-minute consultation behind closed doors. After this break in proceedings, the bishops returned to the plenary — and the bishops didn’t block any more votes.
Within the debates, speakers from the reform-oriented majority stressed that the pope wanted a “synodal church” and that the church in Germany was progressing along this path.
KNA reported that in this manner, and thru necessary speeches within the assembly, Bishop Bätzing, co-president of the Synodal Path, was in a position to influence the course of the assembly. He succeeded in lessening the animosity that had erupted after the upset of the primary day and likewise shielded conservative brethren from polemical criticism.
There have been several debates about whether to vote by name or anonymously. Despite protests, the plenary made voting by roll call compulsory and enforced it several times.
Within the debates, speakers from the reform-oriented majority often referred to Pope Francis. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, one in all the founding fathers of the Synodal Path, stressed that the pope wanted a “synodal church” and that the church in Germany was progressing along this path.
Several speakers said the reform proposals, that are far-reaching by the standards of the worldwide Catholic Church, were a vital impetus for the church in other cultures and countries.
Quite a few delegates referred to the massive number of individuals leaving the church in Germany and said the exodus could only be stopped with decisive reforms. One other often-cited argument was sexual abuse by clerics. The church owed it to the victims to alter its doctrine and structure in such a way that these crimes could not occur, said Gregor Podschun, chairman of the Federation of German Catholic Youth.
The meeting’s final result met with praise and criticism.
The professional-reform group We Are Church, which has been demanding change for a long time, called the three-day meeting a “reflection of the dramatic situation throughout the church.”
The professional-reform group We Are Church, which has been demanding change for a long time, called the three-day meeting a “reflection of the dramatic situation throughout the church.”
“What was frightening was the at-times easy argumentation and the apparent polarization throughout the German bishops’ conference in addition to the refusal of many bishops and auxiliary bishops to take part in the substance of the controversy ahead of the Synodal Assembly in addition to here in Frankfurt.”
In contrast, Dorothea Schmidt of the conservative Catholic group Maria 1.0 wrote within the newspaper Die Tagespost that she had “witnessed the hostile takeover of the Catholic Church.” In her mind’s eye, she saw tanks drawing up “to make room for the German-nationalist-permissive-feminist-gender church.” The bulk “pushes through what they wish to push through … without regard for the minority and church teaching.”
The Synodal Path is as a result of end with a fifth plenary assembly in Frankfurt in March.
