The German Bishops’ Conference has said it will accept the Vatican’s invitation to discuss the new instruction on parishes at a meeting in Rome, suggesting that it will be accompanied by laymen representing the “Synodal Process” under way in Germany.
At the conclusion of their meeting in the Bavarian town of Würzburg on August 24, the permanent council, comprising the diocesan bishops of the 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany, announced the decision that Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg would “accept the offer of conversation made by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Beniamino Stella.”
Furthermore, as CNA Deu-tsch, CNA’s German news partner, reported, the German Bishops’ Conference announced that Bätzing “will suggest to the Congregation that the conversation be conducted with the Presidium of the Synodal Way, since bishops, priests, deacons and laity are equally addressed in the instruction.” If and when the meeting is scheduled to take place is still unclear.
Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, said on July 29 that he would be happy to receive the bishops in order to “remove doubts and perplexity” voiced by German prelates.
Stella said that the meeting could take place “in due course” if the bishops wished to present their objections to the instruction, issued by his congregation on July 20. He reportedly declined to respond to specific criticisms ahead of the potential meeting.