“Catholic church is not a moral institution”

adminonJanuary 20, 2022January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Time and again, the Catholic Church is portrayed as sexually hostile – wrongly, according to best-selling author Manfred Lutz. The church is by no means a moral institution. However, it has a completely different problem, according to the Catholic theologian.

"In reality, the problem of the church is not church tax, not sexual morality, not celibacy, not the priesthood of women. The problem of the church, of both churches is: People don't believe in God anymore!", said the psychiatrist and Catholic theologian to the magazine "Herder Korrespondenz" (March ie). He doesn't know anyone "who first turns to the Catholic Church to regulate their sex drive".

Church not sexually hostile

In Lutz's estimation, it is "a myth" that the Catholic Church is sexually hostile. Only in the 19. In the nineteenth century, he said, Catholics had adapted to a "Protestant-bourgeois zeitgeist hostile to the body.". In the 20. In the twentieth century, the encyclical on procreation, "Humanae Vitae," had led to a "Catholic identity crisis" because it had ensured that the Catholic Church was "publicly perceived as sexually fixated". "In truth, however, the Catholic Church is not a moral institution; it is a community of people who believe in the incarnation of a loving God," said Lutz, who is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Abortion and condoms

This attitude is also represented by Pope Francis, who in three years has not yet said anything about condoms, said Lutz. He said he is sure Francis will not change the church's stance on abortions and the women's priesthood. But Pope Francis, like Pope Benedict XVI before him, is directing., focus on the essentials of the Christian faith, Lutz said: "On faith in the incarnate God, in a God who is love, who is merciful."

Lutz is chief physician and psychiatrist at the Alexian Hospital in Cologne and has written several books, including "The Blocked Giant. Psychoanalysis of the Catholic Church," "God. A short history of the greatest" and with Paul Josef Cordes "Benedict's legacy and Francis' mission: de-worldlinization. A polemic".

Basic law © Jens Kalaene

"Verlebenspartnert" with child © dpa

Catholic politicians have spoken out in favor of placing permanent civil partnerships under the special protection of the state order. For this the article 6 of the Basic Law should be supplemented accordingly.

So it says in an "interjection" dated Monday, which is available to the Catholic News Agency (KNA).

At the same time, however, the lay Catholics emphasize that it is "neither necessary nor appropriate" to open the legal institution of marriage to same-sex partnerships. A change in the constitution could thus clarify "equivalence and difference". "In this way, legal peace could be preserved in an important socio-political ie and at the same time appropriate respect could be paid to a different way of life," it continues.

ZdK President Sternberg among the signatories

The signatories of the "circle of friends engaged in the Catholic Church and in politics" include Union politicians and committed lay Catholics: Bundestag President Norbert Lammert, former state premiers Bernhard Vogel and Dieter Althaus, former state secretary in the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs Hermann Kues (all CDU), the new president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Thomas Sternberg, his predecessor Alois Gluck (CSU) and former ZdK secretary general Friedrich Kronenberg.

Intrinsic profile of marriage not to be "called into question"

"For us, marriage is a permanent partnership of a man and a woman and the basis for a family from which children can be born. This connection justifies the priority of marriage and family," they continue. There is no reason to "question or even relativize" this intrinsic profile of marriage. Marriage and same-sex partnerships "are not the same and are not made the same even by striking demands of a 'marriage for all,'" politicians emphasize.

At the same time, however, the signatories emphasize that "same-sex partners who take on binding, lasting responsibility for each other, who stand up for each other, who promise to be faithful to each other, are also entitled to special protection from the state. They deserve equally unreserved recognition".

For almost 14 days in 2000, Frank Schmokel dominated the headlines: as a murderer and rapist. Can such a man be "converted"? This question was the starting point of the SWR film "For the Life of a Murderer," in which perpetrators and victims have their say.

After Schmokel died on 25. After he had critically injured his own mother and the accompanying caretaker during a day out in October 2000, he fled. A few days later, he killed a sleeping pensioner and stole his car. The police feverishly searched for him, it was feared that the sex offender, who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison for child abuse and attempted murder, would commit further crimes. All of Germany breathed a sigh of relief when Schmokel, on 7. November 2000 was arrested near Bautzen. Since then, he has been housed in the high-security wing of a special clinic. As for most people who grew up in Brandenburg, for Kristof Kannegieber the name Schmokel was synonymous with evil itself. He was surprised to learn in a conversation that the perpetrator had been "converted". This story interested the young filmmaker. He visited the free-church pastor Eberhard Bockmann, who cares for young people, the unemployed and prisoners in Brandenburg, including Frank Schmokel. Bockmann invited Kannegiesser to accompany him on a visit. This is how work began on the film "For the Life of a Murderer," which Kannegiesser shot as part of his studies at the Ludwigshafen Film Academy. SWR television will show the production in the series "Young Documentary" on Monday at 23.00 o'clock. Long telephone conversations The director visited Schmokel several times and had long telephone conversations with him. He tried to get a picture of the man many consider a monster who didn't deserve to live on. He spoke to the people who are still involved with the convict today and made efforts to contact the victims and their relatives. Many have refused to talk. Manfred Schafer finally agreed to go in front of the camera. He was fatally wounded by Schmokel with seven knife wounds and still suffers from the consequences of the violent act today. Schafer is convinced that his tormentor forfeited the right to life long ago. Pastor Bockmann counters that despite all the guilt a person has brought upon himself, no one has the right to judge definitively. The committed Christian believes that there is no such thing as a man who is only bad. Also Helga angel visits Frank, as she calls him, again and again. He thanks the volunteer inmate counselor with small gifts. Hard to imagine that this man is still dangerous to others. No final judgment Kristof Kannegiesser also appeared normal during the visits. It was casual, pleasant conversation with a man who was not very educated but still intelligent, Kannegiesser says. Since the clinic had forbidden any kind of recording, the documentary filmmaker recorded telephone conversations with Schmokel and inserted them as audio documents. This trick was good for the film. On the one hand this avoids that the prisoner can present himself. On the other hand, in these telephone conversations, the filmmaker has succeeded in capturing the other, dark side of the man, who is hard to fathom even for the psychiatric experts. It is hard to bear to hear Schmokel describe how he had his way with a girl and almost strangled her. He speaks without sympathy for the victim, and it sounds as if he is talking about the problems of building a garden shed. Kristof Kannegiesser does not make it easy for the viewer, for he refrains from passing a final judgment on Schmokel. But he stands firmly behind the people who care for him, although they abhor his actions. Kannegiesser: "I know that there must be people who do just that, not only for the perpetrators, but also for the basic values of our society." Note: "For the life of a murderer", film by Kristof Kannegiesser, SWR television, Mo 23.11., 23.00-0.00 o'clock.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply