Laity: more gender justice in the church

adminonDecember 7, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Laity: more gender justice in the church

Catholic laity spoke out in Trier in favor of improving the situation of women in the church. At the thematic forum "Women: Perspectives," they pleaded for a church that should be equally attractive to women as well as men.

In working groups, the 200 or so participants suggested setting up staff units for equal opportunities in the German dioceses and carrying out gender equality analyses. In addition, greater attention should be paid to gender equality when hiring employees.

More understanding for women

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier argued that the ie of women in the church should not be viewed purely in terms of results. "This is a topic that has a lot to do with emotions and passion, and we have to treat it attentively and respectfully," said Ackermann.

Marienburg youth pastor Jan Lehmann pleaded for more understanding for women who are unable to pursue a career as priests in the Catholic Church. "To watch one's own life's dream die, I find that a quite terrible idea. Then to come with the Bible or tradition – that is not the adequate answer for me," criticized Lehmann.

Image of God not purely male

Helen Schungel-Straubmann, a theologian from Kassel, called for a change in perspective on the question of whether women should be allowed to hold ordained office in the church: "It's not a women's problem or a marginal problem, it's much more a men's problem," she said. The biblical image of God is not a purely masculine one. In some places, God is portrayed as a mother. "The men who wrote the biblical texts were always children of their time and represented male interests," Schungel-Straubmann said.

The forum, which lasted from Friday evening to Saturday, was the third and last round of discussions on the occasion of the diocesan synod called by Ackermann, which ends in December. The first forum dealt with the topic of "Divorced – Remarried". The second was under the heading "Sexuality. Life". The ies address questions that, according to church law, cannot be the subject of a diocesan synod itself, since answering them is beyond the competence of a diocesan bishop.

Symbolic image Church on the way © leolintang (shutterstock)

Dual leadership, dual power: The four forums on the so-called synodal path of the Catholic Church in Germany are each led by a bishop and a lay representative. This was confirmed by the German Bishops' Conference on Thursday.

According to the German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), ZdK Vice President Claudia Lucking-Michel will co-chair the forum on "Power, Participation and Separation of Powers" with Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann (Speyer). The vice president of the Catholic German Women's Federation (KDFB), Birgit Mock, chairs the "Sexual Morality" forum together with Bishop Georg Batzing (Limburg).

The working group on the topic of "Priestly Life" is the responsibility of the managing director of the Catholic Association for Social Services in Germany (SKM), Stephan Buttgereit, and Bishop Felix Genn (Munster). At the forum "Women in Services and Offices of the Church," whose participants the German Bishops' Conference published just a few days ago, the dual leadership consists of theology professor Dorothea Sattler of the University of Munster and Bishop Franz-Josef-Bode (Osnabruck).

Regaining lost trust

In addition, staff of the Bishops' Conference and the ZdK. The goal of the "synodal journey" is to regain trust lost after the abuse scandal and to provide "answers to the questions of our time". The exact composition of the groups can be found in an overview on the website of the German Bishops' Conference on the "synodal journey.

Only recently the composition in the forum "Women in ministries and offices of the church had become known. In all, eleven women and five men collaborate. The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and ZdK President Thomas Sternberg had presented an initial roadmap for the reform dialogue at the beginning of July.

Status of the "synodal way" unclear

The starting signal for the actual reform talks is to be given at the beginning of December. The first big meeting is planned for spring 2020. The Bishops' Conference and the ZdK want to lay down the rules in a statute by fall. The dialogue is initially scheduled to last two years.

However, the canonical status and powers of a "synodal way" are unclear. Pope Francis, who wants to advance the synodality of the church and describes it as "a common journey under the guidance of the Holy Spirit," also stressed in a letter to Catholics in Germany that the term is still unclear and "certainly needs to be considered more deeply".

Only wait until Thursday, then the eagerly awaited abuse report for the Archdiocese of Cologne will be published. No wonder that the topic has dominated the ecclesiastical debate in the past few days as well.

Tension is growing in the Catholic Church ahead of the publication of the Cologne report on abuse on Thursday.

The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” published extensive research on an abuse case in which, among others, the current Archbishop of Hamburg, Stefan Hebe, and the auxiliary bishop of Cologne, Dominikus Schwaderlapp, are accused of serious omissions.

Rorig expects results

The German government's abuse commissioner, Johannes Wilhelm Rorig, said on WDR radio that he expects, above all in the interest of those affected, “that cover-ups, denial of abuse and also the prevention of clarification are exposed to the maximum”.

He also said Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki must disclose whether he “really had weighty reasons for withholding the first opinion”. He added that he could only comment on possible personnel consequences after publication of the expert reports.

The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Batzing, lamented “decades of institutionally covered-up abuse” in the Catholic Church in a ZDF service. This is a “real catastrophe” and now it is high time “for honesty and decisiveness in dealing with this dark past that is still effective today,” the Limburg bishop said.

Zollner criticizes all attempts at cover-up

In the Catholic weekly newspaper “Die Tagespost” (online), Vatican child protection expert Hans Zollner criticized all attempts to relativize cover-ups of abuse or the transfer of perpetrators in earlier times: Regardless of the respective legal or social situation, abusers should always have been punished severely – if only because of classical moral theology.

Literally, the Jesuit and director of the Vatican Child Protection Center added: “Whoever sexually or otherwise abuses children, adolescents and other charges has at all times and in all places committed a serious crime.” This should have been clear to everyone – “and appropriate penalties and measures would have been inevitable”.

At a meeting of the Diocesan Council of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Berlin, Johanna Beck of the German Bishops' Conference's Advisory Council on Victims of Sexualized Violence called for “relentless naming of perpetrators and cover-ups.”. Whoever wants justice to be done for the victims must clearly show that those responsible will be held to account.

In an article for the “General-Anzeiger,” Bonn-based canon lawyer Norbert Ludecke criticized the Vatican's view that Cologne Archbishop Woelki's investigation of the abuse case surrounding his friend Priest O. did not have to report to Rome. With such a legal understanding, “the allegedly so consistent fight against abuse by John Paul II” would have been “a very bad thing”., Benedict XVI. and Francis exposed as a myth and a fake.”.

Woelki had justified the non-reporting with the then already advanced dementia of the clergyman. If the Vatican accepted this, Ludecke said, it would be violating its own norms. Thus "the principle church protection before child protection is insidiously continued".

Pioneering role of the Catholic Church

Despite all justified criticism of the "Cologne tragedy," the Federal Government Commissioner for Abuse attested to the Catholic Church's overall pioneering role in coming to terms with abuse in Germany. "With regard to a structured independent reappraisal, it is indeed the case that the Catholic Church is in a pioneering role," Rorig said verbatim on WDR.

With the Protestant Church, for example, he is currently still negotiating a corresponding agreement, as he concluded with the Catholic Church in 2020, added Rorig. At the same time, there is still a lot of catching up to do in politics and society to push ahead with the reappraisal in the areas of sports, schools and family.

After months of dispute, lawyers present an abuse report for the Archdiocese of Cologne on Thursday. The team around criminal lawyer Bjorn Gercke has investigated the handling of cases of sexualized violence by the diocese leadership and is to call cover-ups by name.

The investigation of the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW), which was first commissioned, is to be made available to affected persons, journalists and interested parties a few days later. Because of "methodological deficiencies" it is so far withheld.

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