The standoff between the Vatican and the German Church continues to harden.
It was constrained and forced by Rome that the German bishops had to suspend from their assembly, underway this week in Augsburg, the vote on the statutes of the synodal committee imposing on the bishops co-management of the dioceses with the laity.
Established in each diocese, these committees,
“bodies of advice and decisions”
, composed of democratically elected lay Catholics, would have the authority to co-manage the diocese with the bishop, outside of sacramental questions: management of responsibilities in the diocese, discernment on moral questions, governance of the lives of priests in particular.
These committees would also have supra-diocesan, regional and federal jurisdiction.
The decision to launch this diocesan clerical-laity co-management was adopted by the national synod of this Church, Das Synodal Weg, in September 2022. The statutes of the “synodal committees” were adopted in November 2023. They were to be…
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