The Church’s Radical Reform – the German challenge

The sixth podcast in Christopher Lamb’s series looks at “The German Challenge”.
If you read some of the commentaries about the German synodal pathway, you might be forgiven for believing that the Church in Germany is planning a second Reformation.

Der Synodale Weg, “the synodal path”, has faced heavy criticism for the way it is approaching the question of reform. The Germans have decided to focus on the use of power, women in ministry, priestly existence and Catholic sexual teaching. A majority of the assembly has indicated they are in favour of changes such as female ordination, married priests, same-sex partnerships and giving the laity more of a say in choosing bishops. All of this has led to charges that the Germans are causing a schism in the Church.

But is this true? In this episode, I spoke to two people involved in the process. One of them Lukas Nusser is aged 21 and a student, who is one of the youngest members of the synodal path. The other Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck leads the Diocese of Essen, a community of around 1 million Catholics in the Ruhr region of Germany.

Both of them talked about how the German synodal path sought to tackle a crisis in the Church caused by sex abuse and rapid secularisation. Der Synodale Weg, they argued, is an attempt to help the Church become a more credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And they both insisted it’s not about causing a schism.

Producers: Silvia Sacco
Jamie Weston

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