Pope Francis has written a letter in which he has expressed strong reservations about the direction of the Catholic Church in Germany, which he says “threatens to steer it[self] increasingly away from the universal Church’s common path”.
The Pope expressed his concerns in a letter written in German to four German Catholic laywomen, who had first written to him about their own worries. The letter was first published in the German newspaper Welt on November 21.
“I share your concerns,” wrote Pope Francis, referring to the German church’s desire to establish a synodal committee of laity and bishops which would govern the Catholic Church in Germany.
“However,” he continued, “as outlined in the corresponding resolution, its proposed structure is not in alignment with the sacramental structure of the Catholic Church. Consequently, its formation was forbidden by the Holy See in a letter dated January 16, 2023, which received my specific endorsement”.
“Instead of looking for ‘salvation’ in ever new committees and always discussing the same topic with a certain self-absorption,” the Pope urged the Catholic Church in Germany to “open up and go out to meet our brothers and sisters, especially those who are … on the thresholds of our church doors, on the streets, in the prisons, in the hospitals, in the squares and in the cities.”
Pope Francis explained that in previous correspondence with the Church in Germany he had urged them to take a different path and to desist from trying to find “‘salvation’ in constantly evolving committees, nor to persist in self-absorbed dialogues rehashing the same themes”.
“Rather, I aimed to re-emphasise the importance of prayer, penance, and adoration,” he explained. “I urged an openness and a call to action to engage with our brothers and sisters, especially those found at the thresholds of our church doors, in the streets, within prisons, hospitals, public squares, and cities (as mentioned in section 8). I firmly believe that in these places, the Lord will guide us.”
The leaders of the schismatic German Synodal Way recently met in Essen on November 10. Their professed aim is to establish a Synodal Council in Germany no later than 2026.
The full text of the letter translated into English can be read here
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