German bishops Archives

Critic: German Catholicism is rich – but in the wrong ways

The editor of Catholic News Agency’s German edition wrote an opinion article for The Catholic Herald in the U.K. summarizing his view of what has gone wrong for the Catholic Church in his country of Germany. While it is a church rich in terms of money, it is losing members quickly, and those who stay aren’t going to Mass.

Cardinal Meisner, one of the ‘dubia’ cardinals, dies at 83

Leading conservative German Cardinal Joachim Meisner has died. His successor as Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, said Meisner stood up for truth, and “fought for the protection of life from the beginning to the end, and raised his voice wherever the dignity of the person was challenged.”

German bishops regret lawmakers’ vote to legalize same-sex marriage

Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin said about the decision, “it is worth noting how many who long fought the institution of marriage have now become fervent advocates of ‘marriage for all,’ and how prudent convictions about marriage have been abandoned citing changing times and popular moods.”

Germans still jousting over the proper reading of ‘Amoris Laetitia’
- Global Church
- February 1, 2017
Cardinal Gerhard Muller, the Vatican’s doctrinal czar, said Wednesday that Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics is against Church doctrine and no one, including the pope, can change that. On the same day, the German bishops wrote that Pope Francis’s ‘Amoris Laetitia’ does in fact, open doors to access the sacraments, at least in some circumstances.
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German bishop urges families to be inspired by ‘Amoris’
- Catholic News Service, Global Church
- December 31, 2016
A year ago at Christmas, Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin was advising families to read and study ‘Amoris Laetitia,’ Pope Francis’s exhortation on the family. Despite some controversy surrounding the papal document, many bishops continue to support it.
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Bishops mourn victims of deadly truck detour on Berlin Christmas market
- Catholic News Agency, Global Church
- December 20, 2016
German bishops have voiced their sorrow for the 12 people who were killed and the many who were wounded when a truck rammed into crowds at a Berlin Christmas market. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishops Conference, has invited the German people to prayer and unity in these hard times.
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