Next date announced for talks between DBK and Vatican

The German bishops and the Vatican are continuing their dialogue on the synodal path. The date for the next dialogue between representatives of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Roman Curia has now been announced. The meeting will take place on 22 March, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced at the request of katholisch.de. Fernández said that it was the first in a series of meetings, the topics of which had already been determined at "a cordial meeting we had in October".

A DBK spokeswoman told katholisch.de on enquiry: "We have nothing to add to the chairman's answer to the question about the date at the final press conference last Thursday." At the end of the DBK's spring plenary assembly in Augsburg, the chairman, Bishop Georg Bätzing, announced further talks with high-ranking representatives of the Curia in the near future. He did not want to name the exact date, "because we have conducted the talks so far really discreetly, without having to make any announcements - that is part of the relationship of trust. That's why I ask for your understanding."

The upcoming talks on the synodal path are also taking place against the backdrop of the most recent letter from the Vatican to the German bishops. In the letter, three leading curia cardinals had called on the German bishops to remove the vote on the statutes of the Synodal Committee from the agenda of the plenary assembly. The Vatican thus stopped the establishment of this body of the church reform process in Germany for the time being. This is because the bishops' approval of the statute is mandatory for it to come into force. The letter, dated 16 February, was signed by Fernández, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and the Prefect of the Episcopal Dicastery, Cardinal Robert Prevost. The letter was "brought to the Pope's attention and approved by him", the letter stated.

Progress of the synodal path unclear after Vatican letter

It is still unclear how the Synodal Committee will now proceed. The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Irme Stetter-Karp, criticised the letter from the Vatican in an interview with katholisch.de. "I am very thoughtful about the question of whether we will succeed in continuing the constructive joint work between the laity and the bishops in Germany," said Stetter-Karp. Alongside the President of the DBK, the ZdK President is one of the two leaders of the Synodal Path.

In July last year, a delegation from the DBK travelled to Rome for several talks with representatives of the Curia on the Syn odal Path. The meeting was a continuation of the dialogue during the German bishops' ad limina visit in November 2022, the Bishops' Conference announced at the time. It was agreed there "that the theological questions and questions of discipline that came to light during the Synodal Path in particular must be discussed further", the DBK statement said. (rom)