Munich, Germany, Mar 14, 2019 / 16:27 pm
Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising has announced that the Catholic Church in Germany is embarking on a "binding synodal process" to tackle what he says are the three key issues arising from the clerical abuse crisis: priestly celibacy, the Church's teaching on sexual morality, and a reduction of clerical power.
Speaking at the conclusion of the plenary session of the German bishops' conference on Thursday, Marx told reporters that the bishops had unanimously decided these three topics would be subject to a process of "synodal progression" that could lead to a binding, but as yet undetermined, outcome.
"The Church needs synodal progress," the president of the German bishops' conference asserted. "Pope Francis encourages this."
The German bishops held their plenary session in the German town of Lingen from March 11 to 14.