Twenty reform groups at the beginning of the Synodal Way:

“Synodal Way needs fundamental change and perspectives”

 

With this statement of 22 November 2019 twenty church reform groups have once

again publicly expressed their expectations shortly before the official start on 1

December 2019.

Catholic reform groups renewed their demands shortly before the official start

on the first Sunday in Advent, December 1, 2019, that the Synodal Way is to be

designed in a participatory, open-ended and transparent manner and must lead

to concrete and binding decisions.

According to the MHG study, which the German bishops called a caesura a

fundamental change is needed at all levels. In doing so, there must be no

taboos, to think the unusual and decide what is necessary. The common

responsibility of all believers for the direction of our church at this time must

be in the foreground. The Synodal Way should be a process for the whole church,

right into the parishes and also seek to talk to those who stand far away. That the

current church law, e.g. with a reservation of the bishops’ decision sets a narrow

legal framework, must not prevent the overdue debates now in all freedom in

a synodal culture of debate; this is in the awareness that canon law is made by

people and therefore can be changed.

But the Synodal Way also needs new perspectives to show: Another church is

possible. It is about the encouragement that the baptized and confirmed

Christians can live their Christian lives in a reformed church. The letter from

Pope Francis to the pilgrim people of God in Germany of 29 June 2019 speaks of

a turning point in time, “which raises new and old questions in the light of which

a dispute is justified and is necessary”. This letter neither limits nor excludes

topics.

Beyond the four planned forums, the decisive key points of the current crisis

of Church and faith (ecclesial hierarchy, the question of God; Christology, …)

should be addressed. The new “evangelisation” expected by Pope Francis from

the Synodal Way requires translating the message of Jesus into the patterns of

language and thought of today’s world so that people can understand and

embrace it.

There must also be the conversion of those themes so existentially treated by

Francis such as flight and migration, economic form and climate change. Thus the

Synodal Way is not a solo effort by the Church in Germany, but can at best –

just like the PanAmazonian Synod – be a guiding light for the universal church.

Therefore it is important that the essential steps and working methods of this

process are also communicated internationally.

It is important to remember: The starting point for the Synodal Way is the

necessary examination of the systemic risks identified by the MHG study and the

failure to protect children and youths in the church. Therefore also those directly

involved must be included. The themes of the four forums of the Synodal Way

also correspond exactly to the points of the ZdK paper “Dialog instead of refusing

dialogue” (1994) and the petition by We Are Church in 1995 on the occasion of

the abuse scandal of the Vienna Cardinal Groër.

Under the aspect of a Go-To-Church and the question what people need today

and what is in accordance with the Gospel, it will be of great importance for the

work of the Synodal Way that the following points are considered central:

 

1)• The unity of the Church will not be damaged by contemporary progress and

theological doctrinal development, but above all by those who resist all

change.

• The question of how power is handled in the church cannot be answered

without a critical examination of clericalism nor without tackling the

question of the role of women in the church.

•2) Insisting on compulsory celibacy must no longer lead to more and more

congregations are denied the Eucharistic celebration.

3)• For the future of the Church, it will be necessary to allow access for women

to all church offices, because the exclusion of ordination cannot be justified

theologically.

4)• With regard to the topic of sexuality affecting all human beings the Synodal

Way start from a positive, appreciative attitude to the different ways of life

and a consensual sexuality.

 

The reform groups support the petition “#Amazonia also with us!” to the

German-speaking church leaders and see the binding Synodal Way as a

compelling opportunity to overcome the existential crisis of the Roman Catholic

Church, which exists is not only in Germany.

To the participants of the Synodal Assembly the reform groups address once

again this appeal: Be courageous, now, so that we as a faith community can

continue to bear witness to Jesus in the future with credibility and joy! The

people of God want to see reform acts at last, and to hear no more wait-and-see

announcements.

Signatory reform groups:

KirchenVolksBewegung We Are Church with the project groups Action” Lila

Stola” and Women’s Dignity

 Action “Maria 2.0″

AGR Rottenburg-Stuttgart (Action group of 160 pastors and deacons in the

Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart)

• Freckenhorster District

 Community Initiative.org

 Initiative group of women affected by celibacy

• Institute for Theology and politics

• Lay responsibility Regensburg e.V.

• Reader’s Initiative Public Forum e.V.

 Münchner Kreis – Initiative of pastoral workers in the archdiocese of Munich-Freising

Münnerstädter Kreis

• Ökumenische Working Group Homosexuals and Church (HuK) e.V.

Religious Women for Human Dignity

Pfarrer-Initiative Germany

 Priests in dialogue

 Pro concilio, editorial imprimatur

• Association of catholic priests and their Wives

 

The “Eckiger Tisch” initiative for supports this call.Web addresses of the signatory reform groups:

 

www.wir-sind-kirche.de/?id=128&id_entry=7985#REFORMGRUPPEN