Synodal standoff: German bishops and Vatican commit to resolution roadmap
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View of the Vatican from the Tiber / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Newsroom, Mar 23, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA).The Vatican and the German bishops have announced they will work together to resolve the controversial German Synodal Way. In a joint press release, the two parties on March 22 said further meetings would "develop concrete forms of synodality in the Church in Germany, which are in accordance with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the requirements of canon law, and the results of the world Synod, and which will subsequently be submitted to the Holy See for approval."According to the press release by the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Holy See on Friday evening, the meeting lasted "the entire day." It was characterized by "a positive and constructive atmosphere."The press release continued: "It was possible to discuss some of the open theological questions raised in the documents of the Synodal Way of the Catholic Church in Germany," saying "diffe...
View of the Vatican from the Tiber / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
CNA Newsroom, Mar 23, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA).
The Vatican and the German bishops have announced they will work together to resolve the controversial German Synodal Way.
In a joint press release, the two parties on March 22 said further meetings would "develop concrete forms of synodality in the Church in Germany, which are in accordance with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the requirements of canon law, and the results of the world Synod, and which will subsequently be submitted to the Holy See for approval."
According to the press release by the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Holy See on Friday evening, the meeting lasted "the entire day." It was characterized by "a positive and constructive atmosphere."
The press release continued: "It was possible to discuss some of the open theological questions raised in the documents of the Synodal Way of the Catholic Church in Germany," saying "differences and points of agreement were identified."
"A regular exchange" between German bishops and the Vatican "on the further work of the Synodal Way and the Synodal Committee" was agreed.
The next meeting is to take place before the summer.
Friday's statement did not mention the German Synodal Council by name, and it is unclear whether this controversial project has now been scuppered, suspended, or could ultimately be submitted to the Holy See for approval.
On the Vatican's side, the participants were the prefects of the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith (Victor Fernández), for Promoting Christian Unity (Kurt Koch), for Bishops (Robert Prevost), for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (Arthur Roche), and for Legislative Texts (Filippo Iannone).
Bishops Georg Bätzing, Stephan Ackermann, Michael Gerber, Peter Kohlgraf, Bertram Meier, and Franz-Josef Overbeck represented the German Bishops' Conference.
The Synodal Way — "Synodaler Weg," sometimes called Synodal Path — is not a synod. The event brought together Germany's bishops and selected laypeople to debate and pass resolutions based on a 2018 sexual abuse study.
Participants have voted in favor of draft documents calling for the priestly ordination of women, same-sex blessings, and changes to Church teaching on homosexual acts.
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Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...
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Members of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Bukavu (ASSEPB). / Credit: Radio MotoACI Africa, Apr 28, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Catholic bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have denounced the insecurity and violence in their dioceses.In their collective statement issued Sunday, April 14, the members of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Bukavu (ASSEPB) said: "Insecurity has become endemic, with its trail of killings even in the middle of the day, massacres and kidnappings of peaceful citizens in our towns and villages."ASSEPB members decried "the opening up of most of our territorial entities; the [rebel group] M23s surrounding of the town of Goma supported by Rwanda; and the strategy of paralyzing the economy by isolating and suffocating large and small towns.""Despite the holding of elections, the Congolese state remains weak and ineffective," they further lamented. The Catholic Church leaders faulted the President ...
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Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. / Credit: Charlotte County Sheriff's OfficeCNA Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 19:18 pm (CNA).A Florida priest who was recently arrested on sex abuse charges was permitted to continue in active ministry for nearly three years after a civil sex abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the diocese in which he serves.Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. The matter came to the forefront this week after Riley was arrested on several sex abuse charges dating back to his time serving as a priest in Iowa decades ago. The Charlotte County, Florida Sheriff's Office said in a press release that deputies arrested Riley in Port Charlotte on April 24 "on multiple counts of capital sexual battery stemmin...