Vatican officials sent a letter to Bishop Bätzing to say the bishops do not have the authority to create a synodal body that supersedes the authority of the bishops’ conference.
Vatican rejects proposed governing council of bishops and laity in Germany
Cardinals Ladaria, Ouellet outline concerns about German Synodal Path
The bishops met Nov. 18 with the heads of Vatican dicasteries to discuss the Synodal Path, which the German bishops’ conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics launched in 2019 in response to the clerical abuse scandal.
Questions about Synodal Path dominate German bishops’ ‘ad limina’
The German bishops’ meeting with officials of the Roman Curia was not a “showdown,” but it did make clear the Vatican’s strong concerns about Germany’s Synodal Path, especially regarding its support for official ministries for women and for a change in church teaching about homosexuality, said the president of the bishops’ conference.