ZdK member Wolfgang Thierse has repeatedly commented on the situation of the Catholic Church in recent months. Now the Bundestag vice president has again found clear words: on the crisis and contradictions of "a clerical church".
Many Catholic Christians are deeply shocked and ashamed by what is now becoming apparent in terms of misconduct and crimes in church institutions, Thierse writes in a guest article for the daily newspaper "Die Welt" (Tuesday edition). "The image of Mother Church is tainted, she is in a dramatic crisis," the Social Democrat and Catholic Christian states."The Church should not be too quick to brush aside this shake-up. I very much wish that my church would set an example for society of how to deal honestly, consistently, thoughtfully with such a moral catastrophe," wrote the SPD politician, who is also a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics. "Facing the contradictions of a clerical church" "And we must face the contradictions of a clerical church that cannot be endured any longer," Thierse writes further. On the one hand, the "Pope's Church" has been waging a "defensive struggle" against the ordination of women to the priesthood for decades, advocates a barely livable sexual morality and rejects contraception. "On the other hand, and at the same time, the same church covers up sexual violence for decades, conceals and covers up assaults by priests against children, the most precious thing we have," criticizes the Social Democrat. At the same time, he says, the Church is surrounding celibacy and the multiple violations of it with an "irrevocable taboo".