The Catholic laypeople and bishops have defended the church reform process in Germany against criticism from the Vatican and are urging a dialogue with the Holy See.
One never tires of emphasizing that the church in Germany will not go a "German special path", according to a statement by the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Bätzing, and the president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Irme, which was distributed on Thursday evening Stetter-Karp.
The Vatican had reprimanded the synodal path reform dialogue on Thursday.
Stetter-Karp and Bishop Bätzing of Limburg are the presidents of the synodal path.
They want to clearly state where changes are necessary from the point of view of those involved in the reform process.
"We already feel that the problems and issues we have identified are similar around the world," the statement continued.
The Presidium of the Synodal Path called for a clarifying discussion with the Vatican.
"Since the beginning of the synodal path, we have been trying to find direct ways of communication with the Roman authorities on the part of the Presidium.
We believe that this would be the place for such clarifications.
Unfortunately, the Synod Presidium has not yet been invited to a meeting,” explained Stetter-Karp and Bätzing.
The fact that this direct communication has not yet taken place is regretted with irritation.
“As we understand it, the Synodal Church works differently!” the statement says.
Special path of the national church?
Stetter-Karp and Bätzing criticized the fact that Thursday's statement by the Holy See was not signed by name.
This type of communication triggers "amazement" and testifies to "not good style".
The Catholic canon lawyer Thomas Schüller sees the Vatican's rebuke as a political threat to the German reform process.
"Rome insists on its sole right to decide on the preservation and change of teaching," Schüller told the Evangelical Press Service on Friday.
Conservative forces in the Roman Curia and the German episcopate apparently succeeded in giving the decision-makers in Rome the impression that the German church was moving towards a national church special path.
The Vatican had warned Catholic bishops and laypeople against implementing church reforms on their own.
The synodal path in Germany is not authorized to oblige the bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of governance and new orientations of doctrine and morals, the statement of the Holy See said.
Since December 2019, Catholic bishops and lay people in Germany have been advising on ways out of the church crisis, which was partly triggered by the abuse scandal, in the synodal path reform process.
The process should be completed in 2023.
The next synodal assembly is scheduled for September in Frankfurt am Main.
In various forums, the participants discuss reforms such as the participation of lay people in the election of bishops, the opening of church offices to women and the blessing of same-sex couples.