Religion
CARDINAL Reinhard Marx is stepping down as head of the German Bishops’ Conference, the governing body of the Catholic Church in Germany, the organisation said on Tuesday.
“Marx will not seek re-election at the body’s general assembly in March,’’ a German Bishops’ Conference spokesman said, adding that a new leader would need to be chosen.
Marx has been the driving force behind the so-called Synodal Path, an initiative set up by the German Catholic Church to consider reform over a two-year period.
This is focused chiefly on the church’s approach to sex and relationships, with women’s role in the clergy and celibacy among the contested issues up for discussion.
The reform forum was initiated in response to abuse in the Catholic Church.
In a letter to German bishops, Marx said he had known for some time that he would not stand for a second term as head of the German Bishops’ Conference.
“My thinking is that I would be 72 years old at the end of a theoretical second term, and then the end of my responsibilities as archbishop of Munich and Freising will be near,” Marx, currently aged 66, wrote.
“I think it should be the turn of the younger generation,” he added.
NAN
– Feb. 11, 2020 @ 16:56 GMT |
Tags: Cardinal Marx to step down as head of German Bishops’ Conference
