Mainz Bishop sees work without “big headlines”
Has the church withdrawn too much in the corona pandemic? The Mainz Bishop Peter Kohlgraf does not see it that way – and speaks in the interview about dealing with abuse and a God with a gender star.
Mainz – 28.12.2021
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Mainz Bishop Peter Kohlgraf defended the church’s commitment during the corona pandemic. The question of where the church is in the pandemic is “a little unfair,” said the bishop on Monday Interview with the TV magazine “17:30 Live” on Sat1. Because the church is more than the bishop, who is now sitting on television. Pastoral care on site, personal encounters, visits to the sick or work in daycare centers, schools and social institutions continued during the pandemic, but did not make any big headlines. “This is church, people are very present there – full-time and volunteer workers.”
At the same time, Kohlgraf admitted that during the corona pandemic, the church was stronger on questions about the liturgy and services than on social issues. The bishop also described the exercise of his own office at this time as “difficult”. You have learned a lot in terms of digitization. Nevertheless, the church and his ministry lived from meetings. In the past there had been several criticisms of the work of the church in the pandemic and a discussion about its “systemic relevance”. Among other things, the journalist Heribert Prantl had claimed that the church was too “fainthearted and adjusted”.
In coming to terms with the abuse scandal, the bishop still sees the Catholic Church facing major challenges. Because it is not a topic of the past, but also of the present. “Abuses are still happening. And we are still dealing with people who are affected.” To do justice to each and every individual is the difficult and challenging task. Try that, said Kohlgraf. One must also say, however, that there is no comparable large institution to which the church can orient itself. Even the state or other external bodies, to which people often call, have little experience with it. “But we are trying to find a good path together with those affected, an external processing commission, public prosecutors and government agencies.”
God cannot be grasped with the gender star
With a view to the discussions about writing the word God with gender star, the bishop is cautious in the interview. On the one hand, he thinks it’s good that young people deal with images and ideas of God. “I believe that we talk far too seldom about God and what we mean by it,” said Kohlgraf. On the other hand, one cannot grasp God. “I see a bit of a risk that the gender star means: ‘We have it now. God is more than all genders.'” It is true that God is actually more than all gender roles. “But I don’t get it with the gender star either. That’s why I’m leaving it out.” The Catholic Student Youth (KSJ) initiated the discussion last year with the announcement that it wanted to move away from the punishing, old, white man with a beard to a God * diversity with the gender star.
In society as in the church, the bishop perceives “that the nerves are bare, the tone is getting sharper and bubbles of a certain perception of reality are forming”. And everyone thinks his reality is the only correct one. With a view to the corona discussion as well as the internal church debates, he therefore prayed for a better coexistence of people and for enduring opposites for once. (bod)
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