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Dealing with cases of abuse, mass withdrawals from the church, the papal ban on blessings for homosexual couples: the Catholic Church in Germany is in a serious crisis of confidence.
At Easter, the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference took up these issues: Georg Bätzing was self-critical and humble.
He suffered from the church, "when it shakes believers through scandals or blocks access to the faith for many through frozen structures and a lack of willingness to change," said the bishop in his sermon in Limburg Cathedral.
Bätzing quoted a young man who had written to him as a reason for leaving the church: "What you cannot change and what you are unable to turn back should be abandoned." This pains him, but he can understand this reason, said Bätzing.
"And I regret that we as a church give such a picture."
At the same time he called on the church again to tackle reforms.
"Let us celebrate Easter and trust that Jesus lives and works in this church and gives us the courage for renewal," he said in his sermon.
Most recently, Bätzing criticized the Vatican's ban on blessings for homosexual couples.
He could understand the misunderstanding of the believers "and expressly share it," Bätzing said in an interview.
"I am deeply convinced that the Catholic sex doctrine needs further development in the light of the human-scientific and theological knowledge that has existed for decades."
mxw / dpa / AFP
