Vatican: “Schism” alarm for German Catholics

Luca Scapatello 

The attention of the Vatican in the past few hours has turned to what is happening in Germany, according to German conservatives we are preparing for a schism.

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On the bench there are key topics such as priestly celibacy, openness to gay catholics and the female diaconate.

Celibacy and female diaconate, the clash situation in Germany

The next will be important days for the future of the Church. The Holy Father is called to take a position on what emerged from the . During the meeting between bishops, in fact, the need to open to the acceptance of married priests where there is an extreme need emerged clearly. In the forest area of ​​Brazil, in fact, for years there have been no priests to fill roles in some important churches and the only solution found was to allow some lay people to celebrate the sacraments.

 

The opening of the married priests was contested first by Cardinal Ruini, who expressed himself immediately after the result of the vote. In recent days, the position of Cardinal Sarah has also emerged, with a book that speaks of the importance of celibacy based on the theory of Benedict XVI . The German “conservative” bishops are also opposed to this concession. Who in the past few hours have asked the Pope to clarify as soon as possible his position regarding celibacy and other delicate issues. In fact, these have long denounced a widespread tendency of the progressive part of the German Church that would willingly open to married priests, to the female diaconate and to homosexuals.

The alarm of the German conservatives

In a recent open letter, published in Stilum Curiae, we read a clear invitation to the Pontiff to put a brake on progressives: “ We ask Pope Francis for clarity. He does not ignore the positions of the German bishops nor their objective , which is to extend the ‘binding’ decisions of their ‘permanent synod’ to the universal Church “. The biggest fear, however, is that the creation of “National Churches” will be granted; or greater freedom of action for Episcopal Conferences.

According to worried conservatives, giving such decision-making freedom to the German Bishops’ Conference would amount to creating a schism. In fact, the same document reads: “Considering the ideological convictions and public statements of many German bishops, we have no doubts in this regard: the outcome of the synodal path can only be the establishment of a church separate from Rome “.

 

Luca Scapatello