Religion
THE issue of equal rights for women within the church is one of the key issues confronting Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops as they hold their twice-yearly conference, Church official said.
The Chairman of the Conference, Georg Baetzing, said this on Wednesday.
Within the church there is an “unbroken tradition that the role of Christ is represented by a man,” Baetzing, bishop of Limburg, told national public broadcaster ZDF.
“But we of course live in a time when equal rights have entered everyone’s thinking – mine and that of everyone who belongs to the church – that one asks whether this is so important that the essence of the Church is affected by it,” he said.
Decisions on the issue could not be taken by the German church on its own but had to be made in the context of the global church, he said. “Rome always has a major say.”
Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops are currently holding their twice yearly meeting in the central city of Fulda.
Lay Catholics, with women in the lead, are pressing for change within the church to allow women to take on clerical roles, in a process referred to as the Synodal Path, while conservative bishops are resisting this, fearing a split with Rome.
The Synodal Path was set up last year in response to revelations of widespread sexual abuse within the church.
NAN
– Sept. 23, 2020 @ 11:05 GMT |
Tags: Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops face calls for equal rights
