Is the Priest Shortage in Germany Intentional?
Alexander Kissler – the well-respected, often subtly ironic, conservative German journalist and editor of the culture section of the German journal Cicero who recently wrote a piercing critique of Pope Francis – has now written another important article on Catholic matters. This time, he reports on the fact that, last year, “in 2015, only 58 men have been ordained as priests in the whole of Germany [with 23,8 million Catholics].” Kissler makes the strong claim that this standing shortage of priests is actually wanted by the guiding progressives of the German Church. “The priests,” says the German journalist, “are in the way of the New Church of Participation.” He explains:
There has been no vote [in this matter], no order from Rome that the Catholic Church in Germany should go this path and no other. The Germans just do it, and as good Germans, they do it well.
As an example, Kissler mentions the Diocese of Limburg where its leadership is working to establish “Parishes of the New Type [“Pfarreien Neuen Typs” – PNT].” He continues:
There are, after all, already 30 of such “PNT’s” between Frankfurt, Taunus and Westerwald [places within the Diocese of Limburg]. In the relevant documents, the priests do not any more appear or, if so, then only as a stranger, as a stubborn relic by the side of the road. The full-time employees – together with the volunteers – shall participate together in partnership, under the guidance of parish counsellors and facilitators. The Spiritual Controlling rules.
Alexander Kissler convincingly demonstrates, by quoting from these current diocesan booklets, just how these new “participatory parishes” are implemented from above – and “initiated top-down” – in order to “make [the Church] step-by-step more compatible with the life realities of the people.”
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