Controversial German Synodal Committee to meet this weekend
The cross of the German “Synodal Way.” / Credit: Maximilian von Lachner/Synodaler Weg
Magdeburg, Germany, May 9, 2025 / 10:42 am (CNA).
The German Synodal Committee will meet this weekend to prepare for a council to consolidate the German Synodal Way. Four German bishops are not participating in the body due to the Vatican’s warning that the synodal committee is not legitimate.
The German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) announced a few days ago that the meeting in Magdeburg will include the presentation of the foundational text “Renewing the Catholic Church Synodally” and discussion of a draft statute for a nationwide synodal body.
“There will also be a status report on the monitoring of the implementation of the Synodal Way’s resolutions,” said the DBK and ZdK, the two sponsors of the Synodal Way. “Furthermore, continued work on the action texts ‘Respecting Conscience Decisions in Matters of Contraception — Rehabilitating Injured Spouses’ and ‘Measures Against Abuse of Women in the Church’ is on the agenda.”
In February 2024, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, along with Cardinals Víctor Manuel Fernández of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and Robert Prevost, OSA, (now Pope Leo XIV) of the Dicastery for Bishops, emphasized that a synodal committee is fundamentally not legitimate. Indeed, the cardinals warned the members of the DBK against deciding to establish such a body: “Such an organ is not provided for in current Church law, and therefore any such decision by the DBK would be invalid — with the corresponding legal consequences.”
“The approval of the statutes of the synodal committee would therefore contradict the instruction issued by the Holy See on the special mandate of the Holy Father and would once again present it with a ‘fait accompli,’” the cardinals further wrote.
After a meeting of German bishops with representatives of the Vatican Curia in March 2024, a subsequent joint press release stated: “A regular exchange between representatives of the German Bishops’ Conference and the Holy See regarding the further work of the Synodal Way and the synodal committee was agreed upon. The German bishops have pledged that this work aims to develop concrete forms of synodality in the Church in Germany that are in accordance with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the provisions of canon law, and the outcomes of the world synod, and will subsequently be submitted to the Holy See for approval.”
Against this backdrop, the statutes of the German Synodal Committee were adopted in April 2024 at a meeting of the permanent council of the DBK. This body includes all 27 diocesan bishops. In contrast, the plenary assemblies involve all bishops, including auxiliary bishops, provided they are not yet retired.
The last meeting of the synodal committee took place in December 2024. At that time, the focus was already on “questions regarding the composition” of the synodal council. Additionally, discussions were held about “its competencies and decision-making processes.”
In March of this year, the New Beginning Initiative, a group that critically examines the Synodal Way, sharply criticized a “suggestive survey” conducted by the synodal committee. In a circular sent to all 27 diocesan bishops and diocesan Catholic councils, the initiative stated that the survey “pretends nonexistent facts and creates false impressions among recipients. It is therefore unusable. We therefore call on you to withdraw this ‘survey’ and to no longer consider its ‘results,’ which were generated under false pretenses.”
Several survey questions refer to “the action text of the Synodal Way, ‘Deliberating and Deciding Together,’ which was never adopted by the Synodal Way,” according to the letter, which was signed by theologian Martin Brüske and publicist Bernhard Meuser, members of the New Beginning Initiative.
The letter addressed Rome’s concerns regarding some of the survey questions, which, according to the New Beginning Initiative, have not been adequately considered by the Synodal Way and represent an “attitude of ignorance toward the universal Church.”
For example, the third question on the survey deals with decision-making by synodal bodies at the diocesan level. This “not only ignores the instructions of the Holy See and the results of the world synod, which has since concluded,” according to the New Beginning Initiative’s letter, “but also cites a SW text that was never adopted and appropriates it.”
Another product of the Synodal Way is the recently published guide titled “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other.” The text was adopted by the joint conference, consisting of members of the DBK and ZdK, but explicitly refers to the corresponding reform efforts of the Synodal Way.
The document states: “Couples who are not married in the Church, divorced and remarried couples, as well as couples in the full diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities are naturally part of our society. Many of these couples desire a blessing for their relationship.”
“Such a request is an expression of gratitude for their love and an expression of the desire to shape this love from faith,” according to the joint conference.
This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.