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NEWS UPDATES

 

EUROPE: German dioceses press ahead with lay participation in leadership by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, The Tablet

 

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, shown speaking to the media on the opening day of a congress of the Synodal Way, Feb. 3, in Frankfurt, Germany, had his resignation accepted by Pope Francis on March 25. (Photo: Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images)

 

German dioceses are pressing ahead with lay participation in church leadership as proposed by the German synodal path initiative for church reform. The diocese of Osnabrück, which has been vacant since January, when Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, has appointed nine lay members of the diocesan council who, together with the nine priest members of the cathedral chapter, will begin consultations on possible candidates for the office of bishop. The procedure is based on decisions by the German synodal path initiative, the announcement explained. The 18-member group will exchange views and consider specific names which the chapter will then pass on to the Vatican as possible episcopal candidates. The group will meet for the first time at the beginning of May. The procedure was in accordance with the concordat regulations, according to the interim diocesan administrator, chapter dean auxiliary Bishop Johannes Wübbe of Osnabrück. He said, “We as cathedral chapter will naturally see to it that the election procedure is in accordance with the regulations and that it is valid.” Two days before the Osnabrück announcement, the Vatican outlawed lay participation in episcopal elections in the German archdiocese of Paderborn. Meanwhile, the co-vicar-general of the diocese of Mainz has urged German dioceses to share church leadership between ordained and non-ordained persons. Vicar-general Stephanie Rieth has shared the office of vicar-general in Mainz with auxiliary Bishop Udo Bentz for over a year now. Rieth is Bentz’s authorized representative with equal rights. It was essential for ordained and non-ordained Catholics to share church leadership, she said in a statement published by the Mainz diocese on 19 April. “In order to re-establish our credibility and to break up clerical circles we need both ordained and non-ordained faithful who will assume and share responsibility”, Rieth explained. In a previous interview with KNA, she described her appointment as vicar-general as a “quantum leap”. It was a first in Germany and up to now, there had been no reaction from the Vatican. “We are abiding by canon law but I can feel in my bones that we are doing pioneering work”.  It was a “pure coincidence” in her case that a woman had been chosen for the job of vicar-general, she pointed out. The main thing was that it was a lay person and that the office of the vicar-general was now shared by an ordained and a non-ordained person. https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/16986/german-dioceses-press-ahead-with-lay-participation-in-leadership.

 

FORUM: An Experience of the German Synodal Way By Susan Sullivan, The Good Oil, Australia

Throughout the Assembly, I held two key questions. How has the German Church achieved such a contemporary and cogent perspective on issues facing the Church today? And how has it reached such courageous and pastorally sensitive responses? My observations, confirmed through conversations with delegates and others in attendance, made me conclude that the long-established status, power, and access to bishops of the Central Committee of German Catholics is a significant factor. It has been vital in nurturing an educated, confident laity experienced in the ways of the Church. The formal engagement between the lay and clerical ‘arms’ of Church life has clearly delivered vibrant and respectful exchange on matters of human life and society and their relationship to the mission of the Church in an ever-changing world. It appears to have contributed to reducing the risk of insularity and associated irrelevance of the Church hierarchy.  https://www.goodsams.org.au/article/an-experience-of-the-german-synodal-way/?

 

HOLY FATHER: Lay ministers must serve and never become self-referential By Lisa Zengarini, Vatican News

 

Pope Francis meeting the members of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life   (Vatican Media)

 

HOLY FATHER: Presides over the first meeting of the new Council of Cardinals - Vatican News
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2023-04/pope-francis-first-meeting-new-council-of-cardinals.html

 

HOLY FATHER: Appeals for an end to violence in Sudan By Christopher Wells, Vatican News
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-04/at-regina-coeli-pope-appeals-for-an-end-to-violence-in-sudan.html

 

HOLY FATHER: Let your guard down, open up to Jesus By Francesca Merlo, Vatican News

 

 

 

 

HOLY SEE: Archbishop Paglia clarifies stance on assisted suicide By Christopher Wells, Vatican News

 

 

Accompaniment of the sick in the final phase of life

 

 

INDIA: Q & A with Sr. Maria Nirmalini on her first year leading India's Catholic religious by Thomas Scaria, Global Sisters Report

Apostolic Carmel Sr. Maria Nirmalini was elected the president of the Conference of Religious India, the national body of major superiors of India's Catholic religious, in November 2021 and assumed office in January 2022. The 58-year-old educator also heads the women's section of the conference and the Apostolic Carmel congregation. Nirmalini advocates the empowerment of women religious, mutual sharing, and leadership to tackle the oppressive patriarchal system and gender inequality within the Indian church. On completing one year as the leader of India's more than 130,000 women and men religious, Nirmalini shared with Global Sisters Report her experience in heading the largest group of Catholic religious in the world, her accomplishments and failures as well as her aspirations and plans.

 

 

 

 

ITALY: HE Cardinal William Goh's Possession of the Titular Church - Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore