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Alfonso de Galarreta, bishop of the traditionalist priestly brotherhood of St. Pius X., Is to lead the theological dialogue of his community with Rome. The motherhouse of the Pius brothers confirmed this on Tuesday in the Swiss Menzingen. The Spaniard is one of the four bishops of the Priestly Fraternity whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI. had lifted in January. As late as May, de Galarreta ruled out an agreement with the Vatican.

The cancellation was among the preconditions that the community, separated from Rome, had set for the start of theological talks. De Galarreta, as successor to Holocaust denier Bishop Richard Williamson, heads the Brotherhood's seminary in La Reja, Argentina. Williamson had pre-empted a threat of expulsion by Argentine authorities in late February and left for his native Britain. There he wanted to learn more about the Holocaust through reading. The Vatican had asked the traditionalist to retract his statements about the extermination of the Jews. The reading is apparently still going on, because since then Williamson has not spoken out again.According to the report of the Argentine Internet portal "Panorama catolico internacional," the fraternity sees de Galarreta's role as coordinating and directing the fraternity's meetings with the relevant commission of the Holy See. His interlocutor on the Vatican side is likely to be the person in charge of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the new Secretary of the Commission "Ecclesia Dei" Monsignor Guido Pozzo.

Unification ruled out? De Galarreta was formally accused of sexual abuse on 14. January 1957 born in Torrelavega, Spain. His family soon moved to Argentina, where he entered the seminary in La Plata in 1975. In 1978, de Galarreta transferred to the international seminary of the Society of St. Pius X in Econe, Switzerland. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1980, he first taught in La Reja and from 1985 to 1988 was in charge of the South American district of the Pius brothers. At 30. June 1988, the founder of the brotherhood, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991), consecrated him as bishop together with three other priests against the will of the pope. The excommunication, which Pope John Paul II. thereupon formally pronounced, his successor Benedict XVI lifted. in January to. In an interview with "Iesus Christus," a monthly magazine of the fraternity from Latin America, de Galarreta expressed skepticism in May about a possible agreement with the Vatican. This is not on the horizon, "be it in the immediate or in the indirect future. We expressly exclude this possibility." Without a "return to tradition on the part of Rome," any agreement would be "incompatible with the defense of the faith.". De Galarreta said: "In the best case, humanly speaking, we have several years of discussions ahead of us."

The Bundestag will decide on Thursday whether to allow or ban preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Here is an explanation of important terms that play a role in the debate about genetic testing of embryos.

1. Embryo Protection Society

The Embryo Protection Act, which came into force in 1991, is one of the strictest regulations in Europe on ies related to reproductive medicine. But it is largely limited to criminal law ies, since the federal government had no legislative authority over reproductive medicine at the time the law was passed. This was only changed with a change in the constitution in 1994. That is why there have long been calls for a comprehensive reproductive medicine law in Germany.

Clearly defined is the beginning of human life. According to the law, it begins at the time of nuclear fusion of egg and sperm cell. Therefore, any "totipotent" cell taken from an embryo that is capable of developing into an individual is also considered an embryo.

The Embryo Protection Act punishes, on pain of a fine or imprisonment of up to three years, among other things: the splitting of motherhood into egg donor, surrogate mother and social parents; the creation of "surplus" embryos; sex determination in the embryo; interventions in the germ line as well as cloning and chimera formation. According to the law, any artificial insemination performed for a purpose other than to bring about a pregnancy is punishable by law.

For a long time it was considered undisputed that the law also prohibits the selection of embryos created in a test tube before they are implanted in the womb. In its July 2010 ruling, however, the Federal Court of Justice surprisingly decided that PGD does not violate the law in certain cases.

2. Prenatal diagnostics

The term "prenatal diagnostics" (prenatal examination) covers various medical examination methods that can detect malformations of a child in the womb. The palette ranges from ultrasound diagnosis to amniocentesis.

The prenatal examination methods are widely uncontroversial, as long as they can confirm the health of the child and relieve the parents' fear of a disability. If the results are negative, parents can better adjust to a disabled child. Indisputable is also the search for such diseases, which are still treatable in the womb. Critics of prenatal diagnostics, however, point out that there are still no cures for many of the embryo's identifiable diseases. They therefore warn that more and more sick fetuses are being aborted. The talk is of a selection.

In the debate about PGD, it is often argued that abortions after prenatal diagnosis would remain unpunished. Consequently, PGD should also be approved, especially since it starts at a much earlier stage and saves a lot of suffering.

3. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis

PGD is a special form of the growing range of prenatal testing methods available. In test tube fertilization, fertilized eggs are examined for genetic defects before they are implanted in the womb. Cells are taken from several embryos – usually on the third day after fertilization – and their genetic material is examined for gene defects. If there is no defect, an embryo is implanted in the uterus. If genetic damage is discovered, the embryo is destroyed.

PGD is criticized by the Catholic Church and parts of the Protestant Church, among others. They warn that PGD leads to a new form of selection between "life worth living" and "life unworth living". At the same time, they fear that the method will lead to a decline in society's willingness to accept disabled children. They also expect that in the future, with the help of new technology, not only diseases could be detected, but embryos could also be specifically manipulated. A limitation of PGD to a few severe cases they consider unrealistic.

After a long interruption, the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church are talking to each other again. The Orthodox had broken off contact after the election of Margot Kabmann as EKD Council Chairwoman.

On the fringes of the Dresden Kirchentag, the EKD Council President, Praeses Nikolaus Schneider, and Bishop Martin Schindehutte met with the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion, as the EKD announced on Monday (06.06.2011) announced in Hannover. Both sides expressed their support for a continuation of the ecumenical dialogue and agreed on a working group for this purpose.

Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's foreign office, and Schindehutte reportedly discussed the state of relations between the two churches and "the difficulties that have arisen in recent years". After the election of Margot Kabmann as chairwoman of the EKD Council, the Russian Orthodox Church suspended interchurch contacts at the leadership level in November 2009. Hilarion stated that the patriarch could not meet with a female bishop. Contacts continued at the working level. the dialogue of EKD with the Russian Orthodox Church goes back to 1959.

Points of contention: ordination of women and homosexuality
Russian Orthodox Church rejects women's ordination in Western churches. It also takes exception to the Protestant churches' stance on homosexuality. The Moscow Patriarchate broke off relations with the Lutheran Church of Sweden in 2005. The occasion was the decision of the Swedish popular church to bless same-sex partnerships ecclesiastically.

According to the EKD, Hilarion and Schindehutte spoke "in detail" about different perspectives of the dialogue. Afterwards, the EKD Council Chairman and President of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, Schneider, met the "Foreign Minister" of the Moscow Patriarchate. Schneider thanked for the "open and fruitful conversation" and welcomed the formation of the joint working group to clarify problematic ies. Observers describe the meeting as friendly and a step toward normalizing inter-church relations. At the request of the Russian Orthodox side, there was also a meeting with the Bishop of Saxony, Jochen Bohl, who is also deputy chairman of the council.

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