Germany's Catholic bishops had a wide range of topics to tackle at their spring meeting in Bergisch Gladbach this week. At the end they surprised with an ecumenical advance. A gathering.
A coincidence? Central topics at the spring plenary assembly in Bergisch Gladbach are the shortage of priests and the tense living situation of many clergy. During the days then an interview of Pope Francis with the "time" causes a stir. "We need to think about whether viri probati are a possibility," Pope brings up possible ordination of tried married men. This has given the bishops' main theme a whole new dynamic.
Despite the cautious opening hinted at by the pope, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishops' Conference, dampens expectations. The pope is not interested in a general softening of celibacy. His proposal only applies to areas with an extreme shortage of priests. This corresponds with Francis' statement that he does not see a solution in voluntary celibacy and that it still has to be determined which tasks "viri probati" could take over, "for example in far-flung parishes".
No prohibitions on thinking about celibacy
Marx emphasizes that there are no prohibitions on thinking about the subject of celibacy. At the same time, however, he calls for respect for a 2.000-year-old church tradition: "You can't be so playful with the way of life." Any change would mean "a serious break in the history of the church.". It is not by chance that celibacy and priesthood are connected – and that "plausibilities" for this have to be communicated anew within and outside the church. Priests and seminarians today should not get the wrong impression that the church no longer takes celibacy seriously: "That would be a completely devastating signal for the spirituality of the church."
Another irritant flares up in Bergisch Gladbach. It ignites the World Synod of Bishops convened by Francis for October 2018 on the topic of youth, which the bishops are focusing on. The president of the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ), Dirk Bingener, welcomes on the sidelines of the conference that the Pope wants to involve the young people with an online survey. And makes clear that many have reservations about the institution of the church – not least because of its no vote on women's ordination to the priesthood and the church's reservations about lived homosexuality.
Youth bishop Stefan Oster holds against it and defends the church doctrine. After all, it is no coincidence that Christ was born a man.
Discussion about dealing with right-wing populism
Time and again, the bishops in Bergisch Gladbach also discuss the growing right-wing populism – worldwide and nationally. Clearly, Marx distances himself from some of the AfD's positions. The church does not want to prescribe anything to Christians and does not want to recommend or discourage the choice of a party. But there are "red lines" for Christians that they must not cross, he said. As examples he calls for instance hostility to foreigners or the denigration of other religious communities.
The head shepherds also express great dissatisfaction and concern for the recent ruling of the Federal Administrative Court, according to which, in the case of an unbearable situation of suffering, the state may not prohibit an anesthetic that enables painless suicide. "It cannot be that the state is obliged to extend a hand to suicide," Marx said. Now the bishops hope that the Federal Constitutional Court will revise the verdict.
Bishops call for more efforts to fight poverty. While there have been no further exacerbations in the past five years regarding the risk of poverty and the distribution of income and wealth, Marx said. But the poverty risk rate has been stable between 14 and 16 percent since 2005, they said. Young people, single parents, large families, migrants and the disabled are particularly affected.
For surprise an ecumenical advance of the conference provides. In "first" reading they have discussed criteria to enable couples of different denominations to take communion together. The last time the bishops dealt with this topic was about 15 years ago. In Bergisch Gladbach, too, no decision has yet been made. But Marx ares that the bishops are "on a good path".