A leading lay Catholic in the German city of Cologne has openly condemned his own archbishop for voicing concerns over the ongoing “binding synodal process” underway in the country. Tim Kurzbach, chairman of the Diocesan Council of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cologne issued a public denunciation of Cardinal Rainer Woekli, accusing the cardinal of “destroying the authority of his episcopal office” by failing to support the so-called “synodal way.”

The statutes for a “synodal way” were formally adopted by the German bishops’ conference in September last year, despite repeated warnings and interventions from the Pope Francis and the curia. The two-year process proposes to debate and reform issues of universal Church teaching and discipline, including clerical celibacy, Church-approved blessings for same-sex couples, and the sacramental ordination of women.