HAVEN’T WE BEEN HERE BEFORE?

LESSONS FROM THE GERMAN CHURCH

FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GERMANY HAS BEEN ENGAGED IN A PROCESS OF REFLECTION AND OPEN DEBATE. WHAT CAN THE IRISH CHURCH LEARN AS WE CONTINUE ON OUR OWN SYNODAL PATHWAY?

BY CHRISTINA MALONE

In May 2015, Ireland made history by becoming the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, a debate which many agree was won online with #hashtags and social media posts. Many people travelled from abroad to be part of the referendum. In the years since then, terms like transgender and LGBTQ+ have become part of the national conversation and of everyday vocabulary. Not long before the marriage referendum, Pope Francis famously said “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”, words which were received as among the most compassionate from any pope about homosexuality. Furthermore, Pope Francis has opened up discussions on topics such as ordination for women. There is increased debate in church circles about how the church can reach out to people and make them welcome. One of the most public forums where these and other themes within the church have been debated is the SynodaleWeg, the German Synodal Path.

GERMAN CHURCH SYNODAL PATH

The Synodal Path was established by the German Bishops’ Conference in March 2019. The catalyst for this path was the churchcommissioned report detailing thousands of cases of sexual abuse in Germany over six decades (Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male members of orders in the domain of the German Bishops).

In recent years, trust in the institution has been in freefall in Germany, as has the number of people wanting to be associated with the church. Together with Germany’s powerful lay committee, the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the Synodal Path was launched as an attempt to revitalise the church and begin the task of restoring trust.

Church of St Sebastian in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden, Germany

The question “What do you want?” is the very first question Jesus asks of his followers. We are reminded that it is also the question with which the Spirit is challenging us.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx

In March 2019, Cardinal Reinhard Marx said he wanted the German Church to become a listening church and needed the advice of people outside the church.

In June 2019 Pope Francis wrote to the pilgrim people of God in Germany. In his letter he outlined the hope and the challenges underpinning the Synodal Path. He praised the commitment of the German Catholics and their efforts at church reform, but also appealed that they not distance themselves from the world church.

The Catholic Church in Germany differs from the church in many other countries because of its reliance on church tax. This tax, which has been part of church history in Germany for over 200 years, obliges every Christian in Germany to pay at least 8 per cent of their gross monthly salary to the two biggest Christian churches (Roman Catholic and Protestant).

The church tax allows the church to be independent from the state and means that many services normally provided by the state can be offered by and through the church, such as kindergarten, Catholic schools and institutes for education, hospitals and nursing homes. As a result, the church is one of be the biggest employers in Germany. The church tax also provides training for seminarians and ongoing formation for those in ministry, as well as full-time jobs in lay ministry and in education and counselling institutes. Critically, alongside all this, is the fact that those who do not pay the church tax are excluded form participation in all aspects of church life. They cannot be employed by the church and can no longer avail of the sacraments of the church (except in extreme circumstances).

Addressing this correlation between the payment of the church tax and participation in church life, the German bishops, while not using the word ‘excommunication’, did highlight that it is impossible to separate the institutional church from the spiritual community of the church. In the eyes of the German Church, you cannot have one without the other.

Pope Francis praised the commitment of the German Catholics and their efforts at church reform, but also appealed that they not distance themselves from the world church.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

During the third Synodal Path gathering in Frankfurt/Main in February this year, a powerful statement was read by Sr Philippa Rath OSB.

Sr Philippa has been a Benedictine nun at the Abbey of St Hildegard in RüdesheimEibingen for over 30 years. She described the pain and suffering that the church has brought upon many. She reflected on her experience of Catholics approaching her and asking her if it was possible for them to leave the church. Sr Philippa revealed that she herself is unsure if she still loves her church. She said she knew of priests who leave out sections of the Eucharistic Prayer that pray for the bishop and Pope Francis, as they are in disagreement with those in charge. Needless to say, the audience at Frankfurt/Main and those watching the live stream could see and hear her plea for real changes.

Sr Philippa’s comments are reflective of the seriously fragile nature of the church in Germany today. No one knows where the Synodal Path is going to lead. The future is uncertain for many. At the same time, many lay and ordained people are hopeful that finally something is going to change. Changes are needed. Bold changes are needed.

But this is not just in Germany.

THE CHURCH IN IRELAND

Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell recently published a Statement of Mission for the archdiocese. In the statement, he talks about review and renewal, and invites all parishes to join the conversation and reflection. Words like ‘co-responsibility’, ‘servant leadership’ and ‘inclusion’ are being used as part of the vision across the archdiocese. This comes as a response to the more than 3,000 people who took part in the ‘Building Hope’ consultation process in Dublin last year.

And yet, for some it sounds far too familiar. Haven’t we been here before?

Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell

In recent years we have had other synods, such as The Vocation and Mission of the family in the Church and Contemporary World (2014) and Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment (2016). A lot of time and effort was put into gathering together the ‘voices’ of those who were asked, consulted and interviewed about those issues and sending the reports to Rome. What has happened since?

Similarly, three years after the publication of Christus Vivit, the 2019 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation To Young People and to the Entire People of God, very few have engaged with it, let alone acted upon it. The church in Ireland paid little attention to it, in spite of the often-repeated mantra proclaiming young people as the present and future of the church. The lack of engagement is perhaps symptomatic of the broader, fragmented approach of the church in Ireland to the needs of its young people today. So, for instance, while the Archdiocese of Armagh has recently appointed two new youth co-ordinators, other dioceses have let go of those in youth ministry.

MOVING FORWARD

The Irish bishops have been asked to produce a paper to the international Synod 2021-2023. At this time, is it hard to tell how each diocese is going to respond. How are they going to engage with parishioners, especially those people on the margins?

The Irish Bishops’ Conference recently launched a new webpage (www.synod.ie). There it states that 500 submissions for the Irish Church’s Pathway were received last year. Dr Nicola Brady, chair of the synodal steering committee, said that she felt encouraged by the initial response. These submissions, and indeed the voices from the listening session for the international synod, will be used as the foundation of the Irish synod over the next few years.

But when those 500 submissions are compared to the stated 3.7 million Catholics living in Ireland, the number of responses is negligible.

Of course, like everything in recent months, timelines and engagement have been affected by the pandemic. No doubt many listening sessions are still to be organised by parishes all over Ireland in preparation for the international synod, and these will be the groundwork for the Irish synod.

Personally, however, I am not sure if people even want to be involved, or if those who have engaged before have any interest in being asked again. Perhaps this is because the culturally inspired approach to church is the dominant model, meaning that many, if not most, of those presenting their children for the sacraments are happy to pick and choose what they like about the church in Ireland, and discard what they don’t.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

In the Gospel of John, the question “What do you want?” is the very first question Jesus asks of his followers. We are reminded that it is also the question with which the Spirit is challenging us. In journeying with the church in Ireland, and as a German living in Ireland, I look to Germany in hope. There is a healthy, open debate taking place there about what kind of church they want. Participants regularly refer to the second Vatican Council and its call to “read the signs of the times”.

In the initial weeks after the third synodal gathering in Germany I thought about the Irish priests and religious who have been speaking out on so-called controversial themes, like the Germans did. Their Catholic Church is the same one that in Germany is attempting to address many of the issues we can relate to here in Ireland. Yet, I have not heard many Irish bishops publicly supporting them. This leads me to wonder what good a synod is going to be, if it becomes just another fancy document that will sit on the shelf. Many voices have been heard and have been silenced. Other voices have gone unheard. Now is the time for action.

Christina Malone has been working as a parish pastoral worker for the Archdiocese of Dublin for over ten years. Prior to this she studied and worked for the Diocese of Osnabrück in Germany. She writes regularly for the Irish Catholic column ‘Faith in Family’.