Discussion forum "Believe in Today"

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The discussion forum “Believe in Today” was a discussion forum on the future of the Catholic Church in Germany . The discussion forum was attended by bishops and cardinals, lay people (e.g. members of the Central Committee of German Catholics ), Catholic university professors, representatives of professional groups (e.g. pastoral workers), representatives of military chaplains and representatives of Catholic associations (e.g. Bund of the German Catholic Youth ).

history

In January 2010, the German Bishops' Conference in the Permanent Council decided to take stock of the position of the Catholic Church in Germany before the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council . The process was triggered by the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in 2010. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch , chairman of the German Bishops 'Conference (DBK), initiated the process on September 20, 2010 in his keynote address for the autumn general assembly of the German Bishops' Conference. In addition to Zollitsch, the episcopal steering group for the discussion process of the German Bishops' Conference included Bishops Franz-Josef Overbeck and Franz-Josef Bode as well as Cardinal Reinhard Marx .

sustainability

The nationwide dialogue meetings should also be carried over to the 27 German dioceses. The local bishops and the lay councils (e.g. Catholic councils , diocesan synodal councils , etc.) should talk to each other on site. There were initiatives of this kind in the dioceses of Aachen , Bamberg , Berlin , Dresden-Meißen , Essen , Freiburg , Fulda , Hamburg , Hildesheim , Cologne , Limburg , Magdeburg , Mainz , Munich and Freising , Münster , Osnabrück , Paderborn , Passau , Regensburg , Rottenburg-Stuttgart , Speyer , Trier , Würzburg and at the Catholic Council of the Catholic Military Bishop for the German Federal Armed Forces .

To meet

Mannheim 2011

At the invitation of the German bishops, a total of around 300 participants discussed the prospects for the church of tomorrow. It was the largest conversation of its kind since the Würzburg Synod (1972–1975). 25 bishops, archbishops and cardinals attended the meeting in Mannheim.

The aim of the kick-off event “Believing in Today: Where are we?” Was to determine the position of the church in Germany: It was about the reassurance of the sources of faith, about the common conversation about the faith and the mission of the church and about the common responsibility for the church to make aware. In small groups, topics were collected that Catholics want to put at the center of their work at their church. Topics were e.g. B. to name strengths and weaknesses of the church, to show ways of passing on the content of faith and to discuss where there is a need for reform. Finally, the participants worked out “future images of the church of tomorrow”. This resulted in three topics: “Joint responsibility of all baptized people in the church”, “Compassionate handling of broken biographies” and “The church's ability to communicate”.

Hanover 2012

The second meeting (September 14th and 15th, 2012) was under the motto “The civilization of love - our responsibility in a free society”. The "diakonia" was the focus of the discussion rounds: The diaconate of women , the role of women in the Catholic Church, how to deal with divorced remarried people, church labor law , protection of life, but also the hope of coming to terms with the donum vitae conflict were discussed . In his statement to the bishops, Bishop Stephan Ackermann made it clear that the issues were on the episcopal work program. Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck demanded that the Catholic Church should have a female face - women should move up to leadership positions. But the priesthood should remain a male domain.

Stuttgart 2013

Around 300 participants met again in Stuttgart from September 13th to 14th, 2013 under the motto “Meet the Holy - Adore God today”, thereby placing the focus on the liturgical aspect. In Stuttgart it was discussed from different perspectives what challenges the church is facing in its essential self-fulfillment and what relation there is to the trend-setting statements of the Second Vatican Council.

Magdeburg 2014

The motto of the Magdeburg meeting (September 12/13, 2014) was "Martyria: Witnessing Faith in Today's World". Above all, an appeal from Cardinal Reinhard Marx, courageously and encouraged to follow the path of the Church, expressed that the bishops and the 300 or so lay people want to advance the path of dialogue. The discussion process is the search for a new togetherness and finding the topics that should be addressed in the church openly and without fear.

Wuerzburg 2015

The word of Pope Benedict XVI. “Whoever believes is never alone” was the focus of the last meeting in the series in Würzburg from September 11th to 12th, 2015. Here the focus was on the review of the past years of the discussion process and the outlook for a message from the German bishops as a consequence from the conversation process.

Continuation of the process

In the aftermath of Würzburg, further work was mainly carried out between the Central Committee of German Catholics and the Council of Bishops. Above all, the pursuit of the topic of "remarried divorced people", which was repeatedly mentioned in the dialogue process, was pushed forward. Archbishop Zollitsch allowed communion for remarried divorced people for his diocese of Freiburg against the protests of conservatives. In the following years other bishoprics joined. Since the pontificate of Pope Francis , the subject has also been openly discussed in Rome.

criticism

Dirk Tänzler, Chairman of the Federation of German Catholic Youth, criticized the underrepresentation of young people.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b German Bishops' Conference: Documentation Mannheim 2011
  2. ^ Reformator Zollitsch , General-Anzeiger Bonn, p. 2, September 17, 2012
  3. ^ German Bishops' Conference: Documentation Stuttgart 2013
  4. ↑ Faith can do everything! - kathisch.de
  5. ↑ Chair of the German Bishops' Conference: Zollitsch wants to give women more influence