Germany: one religion among others?” “

The autumn plenary assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference was held in Fulda from 23 to 26 September. Chaired by Cardinal Karl Lehmann, archbishop of Mainz, it discussed eight main questions: interreligious dialogue, pastoral ministry, liturgy, ecumenism, questions relating to faith and to the universal Church, social issues and lastly the “mid-term thematic plan” of the episcopal conference. The assembly’s main decisions can be summed up as follows. Interreligious dialogue. The assembly was opened with a keynote address by Cardinal Lehmann, with the provocative title: “Christianity – one religion among others?”, dedicated to the relation between Christian faith and non-Christian religions. Dialogue between the religions, pointed out the president of the German bishops, is possible on condition that there exists a “recognition of the complete and universal freedom of religion as an inalienable human right”. The plenary assembly approved “directives for the multireligious celebrations of Christians, Jews and Moslems”, drawn up by a work group of the liturgical commission and indicated the prayer for peace in Assisi on 24 January as a “model of multireligious celebration”. Crackdown on paedophilia. Sixteen “directives on how to react in case of sexual abuse against juveniles by priests, were presented. They provide a common procedure for dealing with such cases in all dioceses. Authority and responsibility are left to the individual bishoprics. “Due to lack of knowledge of situations of abuse against juveniles, the Church has often reacted in an inadequate way. In consideration of the victims, we bitterly deplore this fact”, write the bishops. “It is our intention – they continue – as those responsible for our dioceses, to do all in our power to oppose with greater vehemence the sexual abuse of children and to prevent the repetition of such crimes. At the same time we recognize that the overwhelming majority of priests and religious perform their service in an exemplary way”. With these directives, the German bishops hope to “obtain greater transparency in dealing with individual cases and thus to regain the trust and the credibility” that have been “lost in some cases”. Bioethics. The Bishops’ Conference also tackled various issues of bioethics, genetics and pre-implant diagnosis. Recent developments in Germany, with the entry into force of the law on the importation of embryonal stem cells in July this year, were greeted “with great regret” by the bishops. The episcopate once again declared its support for “scientific alternatives”, such as “research on adult or cord blood stem cells” and expressed the hope that the federal government “would give sufficient scope also to these alternatives”. The bishops reaffirmed their support for the recent decision of the fact-finding commission of the German parliament, which voted by a majority in June in favour of a ban on pre-implant diagnosis, and also pressed for a more precise formulation of the prohibition of in vitro conception for diagnostic ends. No to war. On the situation in the Middle East, the bishops approved the fact “that Iraq has returned to the agenda of the UN Security Council”. War – they say – “can never become a ‘normal’ instrument of international policy” and “the claim of a right to wage a ‘preventive war’ cannot be accepted”. “What’s needed at this time is not the multiplication of violence, but the breaking of the spiral of violence”. The Bishops’ Conference also pronounced on the situation of the Catholic Church in Russia and appealed to the Orthodox Church is exert its influence “against state harassment and discrimination”. Mercede Succa