Joachin Meisner Hertz
After the failure implied by the ‘no’ of several German Bishops to the financing of a Permanent Synodal Council, final concretion of the German Synodal Way, which removed competence from the Bishops and which the Vatican itself hadn’t authorized, the German Bishops and the Pope’s representatives met in Rome on Wednesday morning, July 26.
The meeting followed the first held in November 2022 between the German Episcopate and several Cardinals representing the Holy Father. The agreement at the time focused on “theological and disciplinary questions that have come out into the light in particular in the Synodal Way, which must be discussed in greater depth.”
According to official sources, this Wednesday’s meeting unfolded in a positive and constructive atmosphere. The Holy See Press Office and the German Episcopal Conference issued a joint press release that stated:
Today representatives of the Roman Curia and of the German Episcopal Conference (GEC) met in the Vatican. It was a continuation of the dialogue initiated during the ad Limina visit of the German Bishops in November 2022. It was agreed to continue debating theological and disciplinary questions, in particular, the “Synodal Way.” The meeting unfolded in a positive and constructive atmosphere. Other meetings will follow.
Present on the part of the Roman Curia were Cardinals Luis F. Ladaria Ferrer, SJ; Kurt Koch and Pietro Parolin, and Archbishops Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., Robert F. Prevost, OSA, and Vittorio F. Viola, OFM.
Intervening on the part of the GEC were Bishops Georg Bätzing, Stephan Ackermann, Michael Gerber, Bertram Meier, and Franz-Josef Overbeck, respectively President of the GEC and Presidents of the Episcopal Commissions of Liturgy, Vocations and Ecclesial Services, and the Conference’s spokesman, Matthias Kopp.
