Vatican urges German Catholic Church to put brakes on reform
2 years, 1 month ago

Vatican urges German Catholic Church to put brakes on reform

Associated Press  

ROME — Top Vatican cardinals tried to put the brakes on the German Catholic Church’s controversial reform process Friday, fearing proposals concerning gays, women and sexual morals will split the church and insisting they would be better debated later. The report found that the crimes were systematically covered up by church leaders and that there were structural problems in the way power was exercised that “favored sexual abuse of minors or made preventing it more difficult.” Preliminary assemblies have already approved calls to allow blessings for same-sex couples, married priests and the ordination of women as deacons. According to the joint statement, they “spoke with frankness and clarity about the concerns and reservations of the methodology, content and proposals of the Synodal Path and proposed, for the sake of unity of the church,” that they be dealt with later, when the global Catholic Church takes up such issues in a universal way next year. Francis has since launched a global “synodal path” which involves soliciting input from lay Catholics around the globe that has echoed many of the same themes as the German process, including the role of women in the church and homosexuality.

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History of this topic

German church reform assembly calls for same-sex blessings
1 year, 10 months ago

German church reform assembly calls for same-sex blessings

Associated Press  

BERLIN — A meeting between Germany’s Catholic bishops and lay representatives agreed Friday to call for the church to approve blessings of same-sex unions. The three-day gathering, which is part of the “Synodal Path” launched in 2019 in response to the sex abuse crisis that has rocked the church in Germany and many other countries, brings together more than 200 …

Contentious German church reform assembly opens last meeting
1 year, 10 months ago

Contentious German church reform assembly opens last meeting

Associated Press  

BERLIN — Germany’s Catholic bishops and lay representatives gathered on Thursday for the final meeting of a potentially groundbreaking reform assembly that has been marked by tensions between liberalizers and conservatives and is drawing increasingly open opposition from the Vatican. However, Pope Francis himself said in a January interview with The Associated Press that the process might become harmfully “ideological.” …

Contentious German church reform assembly opens last meeting
1 year, 10 months ago

Contentious German church reform assembly opens last meeting

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The German process, dubbed the “Synodal Path,” was launched …

Pope warns German church reform process elitist, ideological
1 year, 11 months ago

Pope warns German church reform process elitist, ideological

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has warned there’s a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully “ideological.” In an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican on Tuesday, Francis was asked about the process in Germany, where Catholic bishops and representatives of an …

German bishops assure Vatican but vow to proceed with reform
2 years, 1 month ago

German bishops assure Vatican but vow to proceed with reform

Associated Press  

VATICAN CITY — Germany’s Catholic bishops insisted Saturday that their reform process won’t lead to a schism and vowed to see it through, after tense meetings with Vatican officials who want a moratorium on proposals to ordain women, bless same-sex unions and rethink church teaching on sexuality. The periodic once-every-five-year visit took on far greater import this time given the …

Vatican puts brakes on German church reform proposals
2 years, 5 months ago

Vatican puts brakes on German church reform proposals

Associated Press  

ROME — The Vatican put the brakes on the German Catholic Church’s reform path Thursday, warning against any effort to impose new moral or doctrinal norms on the faithful on such hot-button issues as homosexuality, married priests and women’s roles in the church. The Holy See issued a statement warning that any attempts at imposing new doctrines “would represent a …

Cardinal calls for Vatican reprimand over sexuality remarks
2 years, 9 months ago

Cardinal calls for Vatican reprimand over sexuality remarks

Associated Press  

ROME — Cardinal George Pell has called for the Vatican’s doctrine office to intervene and reprimand two leading European Catholic churchmen who called for changes in Catholic teaching on sexuality and homosexuality. But in an interview with KTV, the German Catholic television agency, Pell said the church cannot follow “the changing dictats of contemporary secular culture” and must stay true …

German church urges quick decision on divisive archbishop
2 years, 10 months ago

German church urges quick decision on divisive archbishop

Associated Press  

BERLIN — The head of the German Bishops’ Conference on Monday pressed for a quick decision from Pope Francis on the future of a prominent archbishop who faces strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, said that he had offered his resignation to the pontiff after returning from …

Benedict woes come as German church reform pressure rises
2 years, 11 months ago

Benedict woes come as German church reform pressure rises

Associated Press  

BERLIN — A report on decades of clergy sexual abuse in Germany that shone an unflattering spotlight on retired Pope Benedict XVI has added to already strong pressure there for the church to reconsider Catholic rules on issues including homosexuality and women’s roles, creating a mounting sense of impatience. First came a furor over the conservative Cologne archbishop’s handling of …

German archbishop backs loosening Catholic celibacy rules
2 years, 11 months ago

German archbishop backs loosening Catholic celibacy rules

Associated Press  

BERLIN — A prominent German archbishop advocated loosening celibacy rules for Catholic priests in comments published Thursday before a meeting of a German reform assembly. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich, told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that “it would be better for everyone to create the possibility of celibate and married priests.” His comments come as his diocese has …

Germany goes against Vatican to bless gay unions
3 years, 8 months ago

Germany goes against Vatican to bless gay unions

Live Mint  

About 100 Catholic progressive churches across Germany are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering such blessings at services, this week. The blessings at open worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the …

German Catholics to bless gay unions despite Vatican ban
3 years, 8 months ago

German Catholics to bless gay unions despite Vatican ban

Associated Press  

BERLIN — Germany’s powerful Catholic progressives are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering such blessings at services in about 100 different churches all over the country this week. The blessings at open worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vatican’s orthodoxy …

German Catholics’ celibacy debate could lead to schism with Vatican
5 years, 1 month ago

German Catholics’ celibacy debate could lead to schism with Vatican

CNN  

CNN — German Catholics are meeting to debate what remain taboo subjects for many in the church – lifting celibacy policies and whether to allow women to play bigger roles in ecclesiastical life. The Catholic Church in Germany admitted to total of 3,677 cases of child sex abuse by the clergy between 1946 and 2014 in the report commissioned by …

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