From Joachim Frank is chief correspondent of Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Berliner Zeitung and Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
Cologne –
In the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference there has been a serious dispute over the question of communion for Protestant Christians. Without prior agreement with the chairman, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, seven bishops, led by the Cologne cardinal Rainer Woelki, have approached the Vatican. They consider unlawful a pastoral mandate for sectarian marriages decided by the bishops’ conference on February 20 for a sectarian marriage that, in their view, violates the Catholic doctrine and unity of the church.
In the view of the minority, the bishops’ conference exceeds their competence if, as provided for in the document, they open communion for Protestant Christians who are married to a Catholic partner and wish to share church life with him in the communion service.
In the face of several open dogmatic and canonical questions, the bishops in their letter to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” ask the Vatican for help and clarification. Specifically, the letter went to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Luis Ladaria, as well as to the “Ecumenical Minister” of the Vatican, Cardinal Kurt Koch.
Three-page letter
In addition to Woelki, the three-page letter was also signed by Bishop Archbishop Ludwig Schick and bishops Konrad Zdarsa (Augsburg), Gregory Maria Hanke (Eichstätt), Wolfgang Ipolt (Görlitz), Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg) and Stefan Oster (Passau). The focus of opposition to Marx and the majority of bishops is thus in Bavaria, where Marx is also chairman of the Bavarian Bishops’ Conference.
Conflict reminds me of Meisner
The process is unprecedented in recent church history. He recalls the conflict between the German bishops and the then Pope John Paul II on pregnant women’s conflict counseling. The former Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner had turned in July 1999 in a single-handed direct to the Pope, because he did not want to support the majority vote of his confreres to remain in the state advisory system for reasons of conscience. Meisner intervention had a few months later a papal instruction to exit the conflict consultation result.
In a reply to the seven authors, Marx expresses his surprise at their approach and emphasizes that this request for help refers only to a draft text in which changes are still possible. The expressed doubts of the seven bishops expressly rejects Marx. Marx sent his answer on April 4 to both the Vatican and all German bishops.
– Quelle: https://www.ksta.de/29964580 ©2018