The German bishops are not to be envied: This week in the Vatican they must try to dissuade Pope Francis and his Curia cardinals from the idea that Germany is on the eve of a second Reformation.

Back in their dioceses, they can then ask for understanding that the ordination of women to the priesthood is still a long time coming in the Catholic Church, even five hundred years after the Reformation.

Thomas Jansen

Editor in Politics.

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The so-called ad limina visit of the German bishops to the Vatican begins this Monday.

A few days ago, Francis got her in the right mood with poisoned praise: There is already a "great" evangelical church, but you don't need two of them.

Such a warning has little to do with the reality of the church in this country.

But it says a lot about the current relationship between German Catholics and the Vatican: it has reached an all-time low.

The sound is rougher than ever.

The reason for the escalation is above all the "Synodal Path".

The German bishops launched the ambitious and globally unique reform project in March 2019 with the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) without any concept when they had their backs to the wall after the publication of their abuse study.

They accepted the confrontation with the Vatican.

Open eyes to the confrontation

It was clear from the start that demands such as giving women access to all church offices or giving bishops and lay people equal rights to decide would set off alarm bells in Rome.

It was just as predictable that self-appointed guardians of a supposedly pure doctrine would use every opportunity to paint the specter of a schismatic German national church on the wall.

The majority of bishops who are willing to reform and their chairman Georg Bätzing bear considerable responsibility for the confrontation – as does the ZdK.

For a long time they did not consider it necessary to seek allies for their concerns in the universal Church and to antichamber in Rome.

When the expected accusation arose that the German Catholics were taking a special path in the church and were primarily concerned with problems that were completely unknown elsewhere in the church, the bishops had little to counter it.

So far, they have largely ignored the unexpected opportunity that the Pope offered them when he launched a worldwide "synodal process" to discuss the future shape of the Church.

The German Bishops' Conference and the ZdK preferred to be offended because Francis did not copy the German model one-to-one.

They crept into a sulky corner: The opening of the “synodal process” in Rome took place without an official German representative.

So who is surprised if the Germans in Rome are perceived as arrogant and know-it-alls?

Flemish bishops do better

Meanwhile, the Flemish bishops demonstrated what reforms are possible under Francis, if they are approached in the right way.

They introduced a blessing for same-sex couples in September, without receiving any complaints from the Vatican.

However, the German-Vatican Ice Age is also directly related to Francis' style of government.

The Pope, who has declared that he only wants to initiate processes without knowing where they will end, is provoking polarization.

Because no one is 100% sure whose side the Pope is actually on, the ecclesiastical exchange of blows escalates.

The bishops also have to get used to the fact that the pope "from the end of the world" apparently also locates Germany there.

This is shown not least by the Causa Woelki, in which Francis delays the long overdue word of power.

He alienated even the most loyal supporters of the Cologne cardinal and post-colonial church members when he compared the situation in the Archdiocese of Cologne with that in a diocese called Arecibo in Puerto Rico.

The German bishops have to come to terms with their Caribbean status for the time being, but they don't have to go to Canossa.

What the bishops' conferences from all over the world sent to Rome in the worldwide "synodal process" finally exposed the thesis of the German special path as what it was from the beginning: a propaganda myth.

Women, clericalism and sexual abuse plague Catholics in many parts of the world.

With its summary of the results, the Vatican recently gave the German guests the best argumentation aid themselves.

That should be enough for the time being to avert a ban bull against Georg Bätzing.