Regensburg (dpa / lby) – Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer from Regensburg accuses the Presidium of the “Synodal Way” of “authoritarian solo efforts”. His spokesman said on Friday that he had written a letter of protest. “If a participatory procedure is to be carried out, the Presidium cannot afford to go it alone,” wrote Voderholzer.
The background is that the reform process, which the Catholic Church calls the “Synodal Way”, is also affected by the Corona pandemic. The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, announced in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday) that the second Synodal Assembly in Frankfurt am Main, which was planned for September, could not take place as planned. Bätzing, together with the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Thomas Sternberg, ZdK Vice President Karin Kortmann and Osnabrück Bishop Franz-Josef Bode form the Presidium of the “Synodal Way”.
Voderholzer criticizes the decision for regional conferences. In his opinion, they violate the statutes of the “Synodal Way”. He calls on the Presidium to comply with the mutually agreed rules and to act in accordance with the statutes. Arbitrarily stipulated events would have to be canceled and additional predetermined topics would have to be withdrawn. “I am convinced that it is incompatible with the essence of a” synodal church “if authoritarian single-handed practices are used from the top, without general consultation, that put everyone else in front of accomplished facts.” The planned general assembly can easily be carried out as a video conference.
Voderholzer is considered a staunch critic of the “Synodal Way”, which among other things should deal with questions of Catholic social morality, celibacy and the role of women in the church.
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