The main outcome of the meeting held on June 28 at the Vatican, which continued the talks initiated at the Vatican's General Assembly, was that visit ad limina of the German bishops in November 2022 and to be continued on March 22, 2024, as highlighted in a "new" report.Joint press release of the Holy See and the German Bishops' Conference (DBK)" is that, for the representatives of the Roman Curia, there are two "important aspects".
The first is that the name of the "Synodal Council" should be modified, and "several aspects of the proposal previously formulated for a possible national synodal body" should be changed.
Secondly, both the Curia and the DBK are "in agreement that it is neither above nor on the same level as the Bishops' Conference".
This is of particular relevance, since until now, the final "synodal body" being prepared in the "Synodal Committee" was intended to be a joint governing body between the bishops and the laity of the "Central Committee of German Catholics" ZdK that would ultimately oversee the work of the DBK at the national level and of the bishop in each diocese.
According to the communiqué, the German bishops reported on the last meeting of the "Synodal Committee," referred to in the communiqué as a "temporary working body."
Meeting participants
Participating in the meeting from the Roman Curia were Cardinals Victor Manuel Fernandéz, Kurt Koch, Pietro Parolin, Robert F. Prevost OSA and Arthur Roche, as well as Archbishop Filippo Iannone O.Carm.
On behalf of the German bishops were Msgr. Georg BätzingStephan Ackermann, Msgr. Bertram Meier and Msgr. Franz-Josef Overbeck, in the presence of DBK Secretary General Beate Gilles and DBK press spokesman Matthias Kopp.
The main theme of the meeting was the relationship between the exercise of episcopal ministry and the promotion of the co-responsibility of all believers.
According to the press release, "special emphasis was placed on the aspects of canon law for the establishment of a concrete form of synodality in the Church in Germany."
As can be deduced from the above, the Roman Curia once again stops a "Synodal Council". which sought the creation of a joint governing body between the bishops and the laity of the ZdK, which has been repeatedly forbidden by the Vatican: in two letters January 16, 2023 and of the February 16, 2024sent by the principal cardinals of the Holy See with the explicit approval of the Pope, recalled that a Synodal Council "is not foreseen by current canon law and, therefore, a resolution in this sense by the DBK would be invalid, with the corresponding juridical consequences".
By taking up at Friday's meeting the "aspects of canon law" in relation to the "concrete form of synodality" of the Church in Germany, it is clear that the Roman Curia expects the DBK to move forward in this area in agreement with the Vatican.
According to the communiqué, a commission of the "Synodal Committee", which will deal with "the structure of a synodal body" will do so "in close contact with the corresponding commission, made up of representatives of the dicasteries concerned"; the "project" of such a body will therefore be drawn up only in agreement with the Vatican.
Discussions between the Curia and the DBK will continue "after the conclusion of the World Synod, to deal with other topics of an anthropological, ecclesiological and liturgical nature."
Now, the bishops will have to convey to the lay members of the "Synodal Committee" these two fundamental points discussed in Rome: the change of name and the fact that the "synodal body at the national level" that they intend to prepare cannot be neither above nor at the same level as the DBK. The next meeting of this Committee is scheduled for December 13 and 14.
