Four German Bishops: German Schism Synod at Odds with Ex-Synod

The four bishops Gregor Maria Hanke (Eichstätt), Stefan Oster (Passau), Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg) and Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki (Cologne) have once again criticised the forgotten German Synod in a statement published on 4 November.

What the German synod decided in Frankfurt doesn't match with the ex-synod in Rome, they say. The issues of celibacy and sexual morality were not addressed in the final text of the ex-synod. There is no new status quo on [invalidly ordained] deaconesses.

According to the four prelates, the aims of the German Synod and the aims of the ex-synod "do not go hand in hand" and are even contradictory.

At the meetings of the German synod in Frankfurt, there was "a parliamentary-like process of merely obtaining a majority and not of spiritual discernment".

In Germany, "a large majority in the hall with a 'liberal' attitude in ecclesiastical matters wanted to push through their issues under massive public pressure".

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