By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt
Bishop Georg Bätzing, head of Catholic episcopal conference of Germany (DBK) said that many demands of the Würzburg Synod (1971-75)-- such as admitting women to the diaconate and opening the priesthood to married men -- have not been implemented by Rome to this day.
Bishop Bätzing said these suggested reforms, like the ongoing synodal procedure, are still being discussed and debated. Thus, he said he could understand that many Catholics were restless.
"The great majority of committed Catholics in our country want change and that is why the synodal procedure is so essential," said the DBK president, who has headed Limburg Diocese just north of Frankfurt since 2016.He warned that if the Church did not answer the "pressing questions", it would lose credibility.
Women's ordination was one such pressing question, Bätzing said in a long interview in the January issue of the German theological monthly Herder Korrespondenz.
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