The Vatican and the German Episcopal Conference (CEA) published a joint statement after the meeting held this Friday, June 28 in Rome in a “positive, open and constructive atmosphere.”
He statement points out that the meeting of the different heads of the dicasteries of the Vatican Curia and the German bishops has been held “in accordance with the wishes” of Pope Francis and in continuity with what was agreed in the previous meeting on March 22, 2024.
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The agreement of that day, the text continues, “provides for the elaboration of concrete forms of the exercise of synodality in the Church in Germany, in accordance with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the provisions of Canon Law (ed. the norms that regulate the Catholic Church) and the fruits of the Synod of the universal Church to be presented to the Holy See for approval (recognition)”.
The Second Vatican Council was the most important ecclesiastical event of the 20th century. Promoted by Saint John XXIII, it aimed to update the way in which the Catholic Church should position itself in the modern world. It began in 1962 and was divided into four stages, which concluded in 1965, when Saint Paul VI was Pope.
In today’s exchange, “the bishops reported on the last meeting of the Synodal Committee—a temporary work body—during which the theological foundations and the possibility of the legal realization of a national synodal body were discussed.”
The statement also states that today’s session “has focused on the relationship between the exercise of the episcopal ministry and the promotion of the co-responsibility of all the faithful and, in particular, on the aspects of canon law for the institution in a concrete way.” of synodality in the Church in Germany.”
“The desire and effort to reinforce synodality in the life of the Church has been shared, with a view to a more effective evangelization,” the text highlights.
The synodality of the Church in Germany
The statement further indicates that “a Commission established by the Synodal Committee will deal with issues relating to synodality and the structure of a synodal body. It will operate in close contact with a similar Commission made up of representatives of the Dicasteries competent to prepare a project.”
The Vatican representatives indicated two important aspects in this dialogue. The first is that “they wish to see a change in the name in various aspects of the proposal made previously regarding a possible national synodal body” and the second is “the location of this body: there is agreement that it is neither above nor at the same level of the Episcopal Conference.”
“The question was also discussed about the future composition of the delegation of the German Episcopal Conference that participates in the dialogue between the representatives of the Roman Curia and those of the Episcopal Conference itself,” the text adds.
“The colloquiums will continue after the conclusion of the Synod of the Universal Church”, which will be held in October 2024 in the Vatican, “and in them other topics of an anthropological, ecclesiological and liturgical nature will also be discussed.”
What is the German Synodal Path?
The March 2024 meeting discussed the Synodal Path, a controversial multi-year process that began in December 2019, involving bishops and lay people from Germany.
There, topics such as the exercise of power, the change in Catholic sexual morality, the priesthood and the role of women in the Church were discussed, even proposing that they be able to access the priestly order.
On these issues, various members of the Synodal Path have expressed, publicly and on various occasions, positions contrary to Catholic doctrine, which has caused at least 100 bishops and cardinals from around the world to warn about the danger of schism.
Who participated in today’s meeting of the Vatican and the bishops of Germany?
At the Vatican were Cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State; Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops; Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; and Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts.
Present for the CEA were bishops Georg Bätzing, Stephan Ackermann, Bertram Meier and Franz-Josef Overbeck, respectively president of the CEA and presidents of the liturgy commission, of the universal Church, of faith; as well as the secretary general, Beate Gilles, and the CEA spokesperson, Matthias Kopp.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.