(ZENIT News / Rome, 26.05.2025).- At a key moment for the future of the Catholic Church in Germany, four Bishops have decided to put the brakes on and step aside. Their refusal to participate in the Synodal Committee, charged with shaping a new national body with equal participation of Bishops and laity, raises not only an internal rift, but also questions of global ecclesial significance.
Bishops Rainer Maria Woelki (Cologne), Gregor Maria Hanke (Eichstätt), Stefan Oster (Passau), and Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg) made their position public in a letter sent on May 19 to the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, and to the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Irme Stetter-Karp. In it they clearly stated that they do not recognize the Committee or its authority to include them as members: «We are neither de jure members nor sponsors,» they clearly stated.
The decision, far from being an isolated gesture, has deep roots in the controversy that has surrounded the German synodal process for years. Born amid the storm of abuse scandals in Germany, the synodal process initiated in 2019 aimed to review structures, rethink ecclesiastical authority, and open debate on previously untouchable issues: the role of women, celibacy, sexual morality, and political participation in ecclesiastical governance.
Although many of these proposals gained support in the five synodal assemblies, they also generated resistance, both within the German Episcopate as well as in the Vatican. In fact in 2023 Rome warned that the German Bishops do not have the power to establish a body with deliberative powers at the national level. The recent warnings from the Holy See — which even requested that the term «Synodal Council» not be used — have not prevented the process from moving forward, although it now faces an obvious obstacle: the lack of episcopal consensus.The four Bishops who are withdrawing are not minor figures. They represent a critical line against the direction the German Church has taken, and although they are a minority, their gesture is symbolically powerful: by withdrawing from the Committee, they undermine the narrative of a fully representative and unitary process.
In their letter, the Prelates do not limit themselves to rejecting the Committee’s mechanics. They go further, proposing a «Roman-style» synodality, faithful to the model of listening, discernment, and communion promoted by Pope Francis at the universal level. Instead of permanent structures with shared decision-making power, they advocate strengthening spiritual and pastoral synodality, centered on the Eucharist as the source and culmination of ecclesial life.
This gesture takes on even greater symbolic significance in the context of the recent election of Pope Leo XIV, who, during his time as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, was closely involved with the tensions surrounding the German situation. While it is still uncertain how the new Pontiff will position himself on this national initiative, his dialogue with the German Bishops and his willingness to hold new meetings suggest that the debate is far from over.
Irme Stetter-Karp, meanwhile, reiterated the ZdK’s willingness to engage in dialogue with Rome and submit the new body’s statutes to Vatican scrutiny. The next stage of the process is scheduled for October, when the interim Synodal Committee could make final decisions on the future «Church Council» in Germany.
