The German bishops attending the upcoming Synod of Bishops in Rome do not have a unanimous position on the issue of whether women should be ordained as deacons and priests. Some are pinning their hopes on the World Synod of Bishops in Rome next October, where important issues for the future of the Church will be discussed.
In a meeting with the press on September 24, on the sidelines of the autumn session of the German Bishops' Conference, which will be held in the city of Fulda from September 23 to 26, five bishops representing the German Bishops' Conference said that during the General Assembly of the German Bishops in this city, the issue of whether in the future the Bishops' Conferences will have the freedom to decide on the issue of the ordination of women was also discussed.
Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck, a notorious progressive, said that given the cultural and social differences in local churches, there could be different rules on the equality of women. Therefore, the Synod of Bishops could give national bishops' conferences the freedom to decide on the issue of women's ordination. However, the Bishop immediately added that: "This proposal may be too early at present. It is only possible when it is clear that this will not be a contradiction that breaks the unity of the Church."
Many people consider Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck's argument to be a tendency to submit to the spirit of the times under the guise of culture. Let's ask, in today's world there are still many societies that accept polygamy, is it right for the Church in such countries to be separated from the universal Church when bowing down to shape its doctrine to be in harmony with such societies?
Another delegate, Bishop Georg Baetzing, President of the German Bishops' Conference, also of an extremely progressive bent, stated that the participation of women in all areas and levels of Church life is a decisive issue for the future of the Catholic Church. "I would very much like women to be ordained as deacons," he said. This issue must be decided locally in the future, in a spirit of decentralization.
Bishop Bertram Meier, Bishop of Augsburg, also a delegate, took a different position. According to him, the question of women being ordained as deacons or priests is currently impossible, because the binding Apostolic Letter "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis" by Pope John Paul II is still in force. In that document, the Holy Father emphasized that the Church does not have the authority to ordain women.
Regarding the Synod of Bishops, Bishop Meier noted that the core conviction of the Synodal Way is that the Church is not governed by isolated decisions, by those with authority from above. Rather, it is about participation, transparency and openness, and responsibility in decisions.
The fourth delegate of the German bishops, Bishop Felix Genn, Bishop of Muenster, told reporters that he wanted the Synod to have a clear direction. “The issues raised need answers. A transparent discussion is important, including those that have been referred to study groups, such as the issue of women’s equality.” Bishop Genn is the coordinator of one of ten study groups entrusted with the issue of rights and the election of bishops.
Finally, Bishop Stefan Oster, of the Diocese of Passau, who defends the Church’s traditional doctrine and discipline, reiterated the Church’s basic hierarchical structure, reserving the core decision-making power to the Pope and the bishops. The Synod will therefore discuss “the integration of the synodal Church and at the same time the hierarchical Church”. What is essential is a new departure and a new path “together as Church”.