No Need: Third German Bishop Assigns Women To Administer Baptism

Rottenburg-Stuttgart Bishop Gebhard Fürst, Germany, will appoint 22 lay women and four lay men to perform baptisms on November 8. He is following the example of the dioceses of Essen and Osnabrück.

One of the women, Ursula Renner, said this was a first step, to be followed by the sacraments of marriage and the anointing of the sick.

There are more than 1000 clergy in Rottenburg-Stuttgart. Around 10,000 children are baptised each year, which is less than ten children per cleric per year.

Picture: Gebhard Fürst, © wikicommons CC BY-SA, #newsTqafinbgmj