Experts: Synodal Committee faces barriers

In the debate about possible reforms in the Catholic Church in Germany, there is repeated talk of a synodal committee made up of bishops and lay people. However, the establishment of such a body faces major hurdles, as was revealed on Friday in Mainz. In a debate in the Synodal Committee, the Tübingen canon law expert Bernhard Sven Anuth pointed out as a guest speaker that there should not be a "supposed parity" between bishops and laity in a Synodal Council. The bishop always has the last word. A body in which both groups decide together on important issues of church life would be contrary to canon law.

The Synodal Committee, which is meeting in Mainz until Saturday, is a result of the Synodal Path on the Future of the Church in Germany launched in 2019 by the German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). Among other things, the committee is to prepare a Synodal Council. The Vatican had repeatedly criticised this project. At a meeting in March, representatives of the Bishops' Conference and the Vatican agreed that Rome would approve the resolutions passed by the committee.

Open-ended discussions

During the debate in Mainz, Bamberg Archbishop Herwig Gössl and Aachen Bishop Helmut Dieser warned against entering into an open confrontation with Rome. According to Gössl, it is important to sound out what is possible and feasible. Decisions made by the Synodal Committee should be organised in such a way that they are not directly overturned by Rome, said Dieser. Otherwise a disaster was to be feared. The Erfurt dogmatist Julia Knop, on the other hand, emphasised that there is more than just canon law. "We need a turning point," said Knop. And this caesura can only be brought about if we leave old tracks. Franciscan Katharina Kluitmann called for open-ended discussions, even if there was a threat of a veto from Rome: "We must not keep our mouths shut just because we might get a no."

At the beginning of the meeting in Mainz, ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp spread confidence: "We can work - and we want to." At the same time, she conceded that the debate would not remain free of tensions. The Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, emphasised that the committee had "the go-ahead" from the Vatican. In addition to the preparations for a Synodal Council, the committee has three other tasks, according to him: To reflect theologically on the topic of synodality, to further develop the topics discussed on the Synodal Path and to prepare an evaluation of the results achieved. The bishops of Cologne, Regensburg, Passau and Eichstätt had previously announced that they would not be participating in the committee until further notice, citing objections from the Vatican. Representatives of the four dioceses are nevertheless present in Mainz as guests. According to the organisers, a total of 64 delegates from the committee are taking part in the meeting. (KNA)