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The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Bätzing, criticized the Catholic Church's lack of willingness to reform at Easter.
He suffers from the church, "when it shakes believers through scandals or blocks access to faith for many through frozen structures and a lack of willingness to change," said Bätzing on Sunday in his sermon in Limburg Cathedral.
Bätzing quoted a young man who had written to him as a reason for leaving the church: "What you cannot change and what you are not able to turn back, you should leave." He could understand that, said Bätzing.
"And I regret that we as a church give such a picture."
Most recently, Bätzing criticized the Vatican's ban on blessings for homosexual couples.
He could understand the misunderstanding of the believers "and expressly share it", Bätzing had made clear in an interview on the website of his diocese.
"I am deeply convinced that the Catholic sex doctrine needs further development in the light of the human-scientific and theological knowledge that has existed for decades."
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At Easter, Bätzing said it was the highest festival.
With faith in the resurrection hope comes into life that it is the orienting foundation of being a Christian.
The President of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN), Volker Jung, described the Easter message as a “source of strength for the here and now”, which could be a strengthening and orientating force.
“We need such a source of strength especially now, when life is so threatened by the pandemic.
It is a source of strength for everyone who struggles in medicine, nursing, science, pastoral care, politics and in everyday life to heal and protect people ”, Jung is quoted in a communication.
The bishops see Easter in the pandemic as a festival of hope
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The Bishop of Mainz, Peter Kohlgraf, pointed out in his sermon on Sunday that Easter is in spring, at the end of winter.
Easter could give hope.
"Especially in these weeks and months, our wounded souls need this sun, the blossoming, the belief in new life and a future in light," said Kohlgraf, according to a communication from the diocese.
According to the diocese, Auxiliary Bishop Otto Georgens declared in Speyer Cathedral that Easter occurs in the middle of everyday life as a "resurrection from worries, from deadlocked situations, from stress and agony".
Resurrection - these are experiences of happiness, joie de vivre and intense relationships.
God did not create man “for frustration, but for happiness”.
The Bishop of Trier Stephan Ackermann finally referred to people who suffered from grief or worry or who had been tired of the pandemic marathon.
Easter held the experience ready for them too, that God leads everything to good for those who love him.