No new bishops – The Pope leaves Germany floundering

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If you work for an ecclesiastical news site, a daily glance at the"Bollettino Sala Stampa della Santa Sede" is obligatory. Among the Vatican announcements there are also the Pope's personnel decisions. In the meantime, however - at least in this editorial office - the 12 o'clock bulletin has become a running gag: "No new German bishop again!" One begins to wonder: What is Pope Francis waiting for? Does he even have something against the Church in Germany?

Three German (arch)dioceses are still without a head pastor: Paderborn has been waiting for a new archbishop for over a year, and on 1 November the twelve-month wait will also be over in Bamberg. The bishop's chair in Osnabrück has been vacant for "only" seven months - but a decision is not expected there before Easter 2024. In addition, with the proposed retirement of Gebhard Fürst due to his age, Rottenburg-Stuttgart could soon be a fourth German diocese without a bishop. And then there is the still open offer of resignation by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, on which the Vatican has remained silent for more than one and a half years.

Certainly, because of the local churches' right to have a say through the concordats, it often takes longer to appoint bishops in this country. But all in all, the papal non-decisions seem suspicious. After all, the relationship between Rome and the German Church has not been without tension in recent times. One thinks of the numerous Vatican stop signs to reform ideas of the Synodal Way. Incidentally, this also included that of lay participation in bishop elections.

So does the Pope want to punish the Church in Germany? Does he want to make it incapable of acting? Or is it simply that there are no suitable candidates? It is quite possible that the Vatican has in mind a realignment or at least a liberal-conservative balance of the German episcopate. What exactly lies behind the long waiting times probably remains in the dark. One thing is certain: Francis will not make friends if he continues to keep the German Church on tenterhooks. Where journalists now focus on sarcasm instead of excitement in their daily bulletin check, the faithful in the vacant dioceses are increasingly disappointed and uncertain.