The dean of the city of Bonn, Germany, Father Wolfgang Picken has announced his withdrawal from the well-known Church reform movement, titled “German Synodal Way”.

Newsroom (3/03/2023 10:25 AM, Gaudium Press) —  Father Picken decided to abandon the German synodal path because the discussion process does not allow for dialogue and tends to move away from the unity of the Catholic Church.

With Fr Wolfgang Picken’s announcement, a total of five people have decided in recent days to abandon the German Synodal Way. Last week four German theologians, Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz, Katharina Westerhorstmann, Marianne Schlosser and Dorothea Schmidt, took the same initiative. Father Wolfgang Picken is a representative of the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of Cologne in the Assembly of the German Synodal Way and one of the members of the discussion forum “Power and Separation of Power”. He recently announced that he cannot continue to support the reforms proposed by the way synod. He also stated that the Catholic Church needs reforms and changes but explained “I cannot support the lack of openness with which many discussions are held in the Synodal Way and the many proposals for reform that abandon unity with the universal Church ”, as reported by Katolisch.de.

The priest explained that the Vatican’s criticisms and warnings regarding the course of the German synodal path were not taken seriously. According to him, this violates the very concept of which consists of listening to all parties. “It is this unshakable stubbornness and rigidity with which the ‘Synodal Path’ follows its own course that motivates me to resign from my mandate,” said Father Picken. He further explains that one has the impression that the objectives of the synodal journey were drawn up in advance. He gave the example that his text on “power and separation of power” was not even discussed during general meetings and that many other issues would deserve more time for discussion and reflection.

Compiled by Donna Smolders.