The Church takes heed

The future of the Church, the scandal of abuses on minors along with prevention measures, ecumenism, renewable energy sources, economic crisis: these are the key topics of the German bishops’ plenary held in Fulda September 21-24. In the press release issued by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) at the end of the assembly, Msgr. Robert Zollitsch, DBK president, delved into the details of each area at stake. Follows an excerpt. A pilgrim Church. “Christian proclamation demands a pilgrim Church”, said Msgr. Zollitsch in the prolusion devoted to the future course of the Church. “The Church of the future must be a Church that listens. There can be no ways other than openness, sincerity and listening”. “We have certainly been overcome by a crisis”, he admitted. “But this crisis can also be a time of clarity, with a great potential for the future”. DBK president reiterated that “the path of the Church in Germany must find a middle way between fearful isolation from the world and world adaptation”, drawing inspiration from Vatican II teachings. Sobriety and humbleness. Msgr. Zollitsch referred to the day of reflection on the loss of faith triggered by the abuse scandal, which brought to the fore also “pre-existing refusals” of priestly life. Another theme the bishops addressed is “the tension between power and humbleness, which requires spiritual service in particular. Personal sobriety and humbleness are especially needed, never renouncing the self-security granted by one’s position”, he added. The DBK president relayed the debate on how to transmit Church message “within the Church and across society, stepping up our sensibility for the world and keeping faithful to Gospel proclamation”, seeking “ways to promote dialogue on themes such as sexuality, celibacy or the communion of remarried divorcees”. Zollitsch announced that DBK will undertake a “dialogue initiative that will involve itself as well as the dioceses and the communities”, along with the German Catholics’ Central Committee (Zdk).Ecumenism. From the viewpoint of ecumenism, the bishop retraced the events of the Second Ecumenical Day held in Munich past May, where “the diversity of ecumenism” was displayed. This plurality “will need to be further strengthened in the future”, announced DBK president, who underlined that the event was attended by large numbers of youth. Msgr. Zolltisch pointed out what he described as ‘an encouraging gesture for the future”, namely, the solemn institution of the Ecumenical Day of Creation, celebrated across Germany past September 1st. The bishops’ consultations also focused on energy policies. “Renewable energies ought to consider the criteria of sustainability and security. It is not certain that atomic energy can be used on the long range for energy supply”, the bishops said referring to the recent decisions of the Merkel government, which decided to extend the use of nuclear plants.Investing in education. As relates to the austerity drive promoted by the Merkel government, the bishops underlined “the specific challenge of avoiding social benefit cuts despite restricted room for manoeuvre. It’s completely irresponsible to refuse financial cuts by principle”, states the document, which however highlights important “ethical and social questions” such as excluding “the area of education from the cuts” and even “increasing expenses in this sector in the coming years. Since the Länder and the municipalities cover most education expenditure, it is necessary to monitor the effects of the austerity provisions in the middle and long terms on their budget and subsequently on education”. Bishops criticized the government’s decision to cut the Hartz IV subsidy: “Once again economic measures target low income families. This policy underlines that subsidies are understood as replacing income instead of acknowledging the service rendered by families to society”. Finally, the future cancellation of pensions previously envisioned for the recipients of the Hartz IV subsidies: “In this way, the poverty problem of senior citizens is bound to get worse”.