On February 1, Omnes magazine published a comprehensive dossier on the situation of the Church in Germany. It contains analyses and interviews with the main protagonists in Germany and in Rome, among them Cardinal Marc OuelletThe following are also present: the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops until yesterday; the President of the German Bishops, Georg Bätzing (Bishop of Limburg); Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg; the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Irme Stetter-Karp; the philosopher Hanna-Barbara Gerl-FalkovitzJosé M. García Pelegrín, Alexander Kissler and Peter Hahne, etc.
The title of the dossier is: "The dilemma of the Church in Germany". Georg Bätzing, our correspondent in Berlin, José M. García Pelegrín, asks him about the expression he used at the end of the "ad limina" visit in November, when he said: "We want to be Catholics, but in a different way".
Bätzing's response is partly conciliatory. Let us now highlight these sentences: "I like being a Catholic and I will continue to be one. The Catholic Church, in its worldwide dimension and in its historical continuity, is something very precious and venerable. But, like all living things, it only remains true to itself and only remains itself if it changes. A living organism that does not change always stiffens and dies. A valuable asset becomes a museum object if it is not used in times of change. In my experience and assessment, this also applies to the Catholic Church." At the same time, he is adamant about the future of the Synodal Way, and in particular about the creation of a Synodal Council which he hopes to have in place by 2026, despite recent warnings from the Holy See.
Thus, Cardinal Ouellet, in the interview with our director Alfonso Riobó, affirmed: "The question of the Synodal Council is a problem of structure. If the structure of the Synodal Council leads to the establishment of a mode of operation such as we have seen in the Synodal Way, and if this is how the Church in Germany will be governed in the future, I have already told the bishops very clearly: this is not Catholic. It is not Catholic. It may be the praxis of other churches, but it is not ours. It is not, because it does not conform to Catholic ecclesiology and to the unique role of the bishops, derived from the charism of ordination, which confers on them the freedom to teach and to decide."
However, the hitherto Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops is confident that the dialogue with the German Bishops' Conference can continue: "The response of the President of the Conference, Bishop Bätzing, says, in a certain way, that they will respect the entire canonical order. That is good. That means that the dialogue must continue".
The fifth and last Assembly of the Synodal Way will be held March 9-11. We will have to see how the warnings of the Holy See are received and, independently of this Assembly, how the dialogue with the Holy See continues.
The full interview and the entire contents of the Omnes dossier will be available for purchase starting February 1 in the issue of Omnes HERE.
