Synodal Way

The conferences are seen as a three-year conversation between Catholic bishops and Christian laity, with a view to modernizing the Catholic Church in Germany.[3]

The Synodal Way's supreme body is the Synodal Assembly. It consists of 230 members, made up of archbishops, bishops and auxiliary bishops, as well as an equal number of lay members from the Central Committee of German Catholics. This number is further increased by representatives of religious orders or other ecclesial groups.[4]

The Synodal Way is further divided into four Synodal Forums that each focus on a particular topic:[5]

• Power and Separation of Powers in the Church - Joint Participation and Involvement in the Mission
• Life in succeeding relationships - Living Love in Sexuality and Partnership
• Priestly Existence Today
• Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church

Proposals documents would be prepared and circulated to all the delegates. If two-thirds of the delegates voted in favor, the proposed resolutions would be passed.

An ongoing discussion is a relationship or precedence between the German Synodal Way and the international "Synod on Synodality", which was started by Pope Francis in 2021.[6]

• The first meeting took place from 30 January to 1 February 2020. Due to construction works in Frankfurt Cathedral the initial meeting could not convene there as originally planned and had to move to a former monastery which usually serves as a Protestant convention center.

• The second conference took place from 30 September to 2 October 2021 but was ended prematurely before being able to vote on all proposed topics, due to too many members departing the assembly early.[7][8][9]

• The next conference was held from 3 to 5 February 2022 at the conference center of the Messe Frankfurt. It was the first one to decide on the results of the Synodal Way.[10] The majority of the assembly, some of whom displayed LGBT pride flags, endorsed the following propositions:[11]

1. Women's ordination should be allowed by the Vatican.[12][13][14]
2. The laity should have more influence on the election of bishops.[15][16]
3. Homosexual partnerships/unions should get a public blessing ceremony.[17][18]
4. The Roman Catholic catechism's teachings on sexual ethics should be reformed.[19] Homosexual sexual acts within same-sex unions/partnerships should be theologically accepted and not classified as sinful behaviour.[20]
5. Married priests (viri probati) should be allowed.[21][22]
6. There should be changes to the labour laws of the German church to prohibit the firing or refusal to hire people based on marital status.[23][24]

• A fourth conference was held on September 9, 2022. Three texts were supported; one on the position of women in the Roman Catholic Church, one entitled "New teaching over Homosexuality in Catechism of the Catholic Church" was supported, and one on reform of the Roman Catholic Church labour law for homosexual workers supported.[25]

• During the last meeting, from 9 to 11 March 2023 in Frankfurt, officials attended from several countries including Australia, Peru and Tanzania. They approved the blessing of same-sex unions, the normalisation of lay people preaching, a guideline of "concrete improvements for intersex and transgender faithful", and requests to reexamine the Catholic Church's stance on clerical celibacy and on women's ordination.[26][27][28] Delegates also voted on changes to the priesthood, steps to stop abuse, safeguarding of women and institutional changes. The possibility of creating local synodal councils within parishes was due to be discussed, but was postponed due to an apostolic nuncio released two weeks before the meeting.[29]

In November 2022, the Roman Catholic church in Germany reformed church labour law. Following these changes, homosexual priests and bishops can publicly state their sexuality, without fear of job termination. Homosexual workers at the Roman Catholic church can also carry out same-sex marriage ceremonies.[30][31]

Due to the decisions taken by the Synodal Way, Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, deputy chairman of the German bishops' conference, "invited Catholics in his diocese to contact parishes for liturgical blessings of their same-sex partnerships and other relationships regarded as morally illicit in the Catholic Church".[32]

The Synodal Way has drawn a range of criticism and support both domestically and internationally. Support came from clerics such as Italian bishop Erio Castellucci ,[33] while criticism came from clerics including Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco.[34]

A common topic is a perceived lack of fidelity to the established doctrines of the Catholic Church due to the refusal of the Synodal Assembly to rule out decisions that run counter to Catholic doctrines. Another common criticism concerns the legitimacy of the organization as the Synodal Way is not using an established organisational form sanctioned by canon law.[35]

On 21 September 2019 Professor Marianne Schlosser of the University of Vienna and a member of the International Theological Commission resigned from her planned role in the Synodal Forum "Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church" citing the forum's "fixation on ordination" of women.[36]

On 28 May 2020 Auxiliary Bishop Dominik Schwaderlapp, of the Archdiocese of Cologne resigned from his position in the Synodal Forum "Life in Successful Relationships" in protest to the forum's view on sexual morality which he claimed contradicted the Catholic Church's view as stated in Humanae vitae.[37]

Prior to the Regional Conferences on 4 September 2020, Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg criticized the conference's working papers in an open letter, dated 2 September. Points criticized included deviation from the agreed procedures, leaving the participants no room for comment prior to the conference, and perceived one-sided biblical theology of proposals.[38]

In June 2022 the results of national synodal paths in the Netherlands[39] included support for ordination for women, married priests, and reform of world catechism in sexual ethics.

In August 2022, the results of national synodal paths in Switzerland[40] and in Austria included support for ordination for women, married priests, and reform of world catechism in sexual ethics.

In 2022, Bishop Georg Bätzing (chairman of the German Bishop's conference) stated:

The Synodal Path of the Church in Germany neither seeks a schism nor leads to a national church. Whoever speaks of schism or national church knows neither the German Catholics nor the German bishops. I am saddened by the power this word has acquired, with which one tries to deny us catholicity and the will to stay united with the universal Church.[41][42][43][44]

In 2023, he noted that the synodal way is “an expression of a lively, colorful and diverse church.”[45]

Thomas Söding (president of the Central Committee of German Catholics), believed that the voting results were “not enough by a long shot”, noting that discrimination against women and non-heterosexual people in the Catholic Church was ‘’an outrage’’. [46]

At the final meeting in March 2023, a transitionary Synodal committee of 74 people was set up. This committee is due to last for three years and will work on the establishment of a permanent German synodal council.[56]

• Synod on synodality
• Synodality

• "Vatican interventions in Germany's 'synodal way' – timeline". The Pillar. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-22.

• Official website