Bp. Bätzing, one of the representatives of the German Sinodal Way, expresssed surprise after young people asked him questions not related to topics, such as celibacy and female priesthood.
Editorial (06/08/2024 09:44, Gaudium Press) In an interview with Vatican Radio, the controversial Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German episcopate, who accompanied the international pilgrimage of acolytes last week in Rome, made a confession. He revealed that the young people asked him questions that were on their hearts but were not related to the expected topics, such as celibacy and female priesthood.
Some analysts, however, point out that the bishop seems somewhat disconnected from reality. Or, not surprisingly, he is experiencing his first genuine synodal encounter.
Vatican News: You mentioned earlier in the “Ask the Bishop” program that you recently had many conversations with many groups of acolytes. What, in these conversations, surprised or inspired you?
Bp. Bätzing: They ask me questions, they ask me questions that are close to their heart. And, strangely, they’re not the big questions that usually arise: celibacy, women’s priesthood . . . For instance, a young girl asked me yesterday: “What is the difference between our religion and mythology?” First I had to give it some thought myself, and then we started to talk. Young people are interested in this type of questions. But I also realized that they want this Church to move, so that it continues to be their Church. Because they don’t want to remain outside their time. “We want to be people of our time and, at the same time, Jesus’ friends,” and they look for a connection.
Meanwhile, Infocatólica observes that unresolved questions of the like, focusing on the agenda of a small pressure group tryings to pass itself off as German Catholics, help to explain the continuous apostasy in the country. In Germany, according to recent statistics, the Church loses half a million faithful each year.
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
