“Not helpful”

adminonDecember 30, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Suffragan Bishop Stefan Zekorn of Munster has called the reform paper by more than 300 theology professors "not helpful" in talks with the bishops. It has also caused "personal disappointment" in a number of senior pastors, he said Tuesday evening at a discussion in Munster.

The Munster theologians Marianne Heimbach-Steins and Reinhard Feiter, on the other hand, defended the memorandum as a "right step" and a "decision of conscience. They were not interested in a dialogue with the bishops, but in regaining a declining ecclesiastical public. "The memorandum is not an end in itself, and it should not be reduced to the demands," Heimbach-Steins said.

In their memorandum "Church 2011: A necessary departure", published at the beginning of February, the theologians plead, among other things, for more participation of the faithful in the appointment of ministers, for the ordination of married people to the priesthood as well, an improved ecclesiastical legal culture and more respect for individual life decisions. Same-sex partnerships or remarried divorcees should not simply be excluded.

No recipes in the drawer
Meeting the demands will not solve the church's problems, Zekorn explained. 'There are no recipes that you can just pull out of the drawer'." Instead, he said, we need to look for ways to better reach out to people – especially young people – who are searching for the meaning of life and a spiritual home. "Apart from that, you cannot vote democratically in the church," the auxiliary bishop said in the sometimes lively discussion.

Ecumenical expert Dorothea Sattler also criticized the theologians' memorandum. He said it made little sense to go public with such demands. "I was surprised by the form, timing and short notice of the initiative and did not regret signing it." Instead of making demands, he said, theology must have time and patience to move forward on crucial ies. The director of the Ecumenical Institute in Munster suggested an international congress on the question of women's access to all church offices.

The Round Table on Child Abuse convened by the German government has met in Berlin. The first meeting was attended by around 60 representatives from churches, the federal government, the states, associations and victim counseling services. The Catholic Church was satisfied afterwards

Two hours were scheduled, in the end it was a good three. Hardly surprising, after all, the Federal Ministers for Family Affairs, Justice and Education had invited no fewer than 60 participants to the Round Table against Child Abuse in the end. Bishop Stephan Ackermann, the German Bishops' Conference's commissioner for abuse, was the first to leave the non-public kick-off meeting on Friday afternoon, which was surrounded by the media. His abrupt departure, however, was due solely to the fact that he had to catch his plane back to Trier. "It was a very respectful and constructive atmosphere," he told the waiting journalists, visibly satisfied. Much expertise had sat together. He was confident, the bishop said, that the panel would come to good conclusions. And, no, there had been "no accusatory tone towards the Catholic Church at all, quite the opposite," stressed Ackermann, who had been sitting at the round table – rather at the table rectangle – directly next to Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP). The bishop explained that the question of compensation payments had only played a marginal role in the plenum. The focus was on getting to know each other and collecting topics for further work in the now three subgroups for the areas of prevention, reappraisal and legal ies, as well as research into pedosexual behavior and possible therapies. The latter had been spontaneously launched by Federal Research Minister Annette Schavan (CDU) at the end of the meeting, after the statement by sexologist Klaus M. Beier had apparently made a lasting impression on the plenum. Beier heads the Institute for Sexual Science and Sexual Medicine at Berlin's Charite University, which offers therapy to men with pedosexual tendencies.

Schroder: "Constructive and intensive" A little later, the three ministers presented themselves to the press in a similarly detached manner to Ackermann. The meeting was "constructive and intensive". Federal Family Minister Kristina Schroder (CDU) suggested as a first measure a binding voluntary commitment for church and state educational institutions. State funding could then be made dependent on whether institutions signed such a commitment. Schroder stressed that the Round Table could draw on the work already done, for example by the victims' associations: "We are not starting from scratch."The Federal Minister of Justice warned against overemphasizing criminal law in the abuse debate. As a rule, it could not fulfill what victims often expect from it, such as the recognition of their suffering and the de-tabooing of the topic of abuse, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said. She also expressed skepticism about an automatic duty to report suspected abuse. This is a problem if the victims expressly wish not to involve the public prosecutor's office. The abuse commissioner of the bishops' conference also sees it similarly. "We must be careful not to make the inhibition threshold for victims even higher," Ackermann warned. But there were critical voices. The representative of the Green Party at the Round Table, Ekin Deligoz, criticized that the first meeting had remained largely symbolic. Thus there had been no well-founded fundamental debate. The participation of victims in the work of the Round Table is also unsatisfactory, she said. The body could not shift responsibility for this onto the commissioner for dealing with abuse cases, Christine Bergmann. Others criticized the course of the meeting. This had been little structured, it was heard. But the ministers stressed that the goal of the first meeting had been for each of the participants to have their say. They referred to the working groups, which should quickly present concrete results. Already in May they will meet again, the politicians announced. The roundtable won't meet again until after the summer break. He plans to present a first interim report at the end of the year.

The countdown is on, only a few days until World Youth Day in Madrid. A mammoth event that will require the utmost commitment from all involved. This is exactly what the government and the Catholic Church in Spain seem to have taken to heart.

Cooperation could not be better, stresses Madrid's archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela. The words of praise for the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero may come as a surprise to some. After all, in recent years the relationship between church and government has been marked by numerous conflicts. For years, Spaniards have been accustomed mainly to criticism from Varela, who as president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference repeatedly came down hard on the socialist government's "anti-clerical" legislative initiatives.

In the view of the Catholic Church, there were plenty of reasons for criticism. First, Prime Minister Zapatero passed the so-called express divorce in the course of his social reforms. Shortly thereafter, the new marriage law legalizing same-sex marriage and granting homosexual couples the right to adopt caused controversy. The reform of the abortion law, which gives minors over the age of 16 the right to have an abortion without the consent of their parents, had a high potential for conflict. The dispute between the Spanish bishops and the government escalated to such an extent that even Pope Benedict XVI. Called on both sides to show restraint.

No peace in the long run
A few days before World Youth Day, on the other hand, it seems that the harmony between the government and the Church could hardly be greater. There is virtually no criticism in the Spanish press, either from one side or the other. One reason for the government's reluctance is the parliamentary elections in November, before which it does not want to anger Catholic voters. The church, on the other hand, is keeping quiet because it relies on help from the government to host the mass event.

However, the truce does not seem to be permanent. "We have by no means forgotten the conflicts, nor have we stopped drawing attention to them," Cardinal Varela told the Catholic News Agency (KNA). The Church does not seek conflict, but will not refrain from communicating the Gospel message in the future. He said the government's anti-clerical legislative reforms are aimed at transforming society. The Church is extremely critical of this "secular orientation". In any case, secularization in Spain is progressing ever faster, Varela said.

Hoping for the WYD effect
Surveys by the government polling institute (CIS) seem to confirm that. According to the report, the number of professing Catholics in Spain has fallen by ten percent in the past ten years to 71.7 percent. Only about half of newborns are baptized, less than half of all marriages are performed at the altar. Fewer and fewer parents are reportedly enrolling their children in religious education classes, which are now voluntary.

While Spain is still considered one of Europe's core Christian countries – Pope Benedict XVI. will not have an easy homecoming, however, when he sets foot on Spanish soil next week. Nevertheless, Cardinal Varela hopes the Pope will have a positive influence on Spaniards. "His visit will be an incentive for many to take Catholicism, which is part of the Spanish tradition, more seriously again."

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