The document, “Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church,” openly states: “It is not the participation of women in all Church ministries and offices that requires justification, but the exclusion of women from sacramental office.”
Frankfurt, Germany, 07/02/2022 1:49 PM Gaudium Press) : Participants in the German Catholic Church’s “Synodal Way” voted on Friday in favour of a text calling for the ordination of women priests.
CNA Deutsch reported that 174 votes passed the text in favour, 30 against, and 6 abstentions on Feb. 4 during a plenary session of the Synodal Way, a controversial multi-year process bringing together the country’s bishops and laypeople.
The document, entitled “Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church,” said: “It is not the participation of women in all Church ministries and offices that requires justification, but the exclusion of women from sacramental office.”
The vote came on the second day of a meeting of the Synodal Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the Synodal Way, in Frankfurt, southwestern Germany.
The assembly consists of the German bishops, 69 members of the powerful lay Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), and representatives of other parts of the German Church.
In a debate before the vote, several speakers criticized the text, which will form the basis of further discussions before the Synodal Way’s expected conclusion in 2023.
Critics included Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz, a philosopher who won the 2021 Ratzinger Prize, and the theologian Marianne Schlosser.
Earlier on Friday, members of the Synodal Assembly backed an appeal to relax the celibacy requirement for priests in the Latin Church when they endorsed a text on “the pledge of celibacy in priestly ministry.”
The document called for optional priestly celibacy and the ordination of “viri probati,” or mature, married men. It suggested that the topic could be discussed at a future ecumenical council, a solemn gathering of the world’s bishops.
Later on Feb. 4, the assembly voted in favour of further debating a document calling for women deacons by 163 votes in favour, 42 against, and 6 abstentions.
It also approved a text calling for the involvement of lay people in the selection of new bishops, by 177 yes votes, with 24 against and 6 abstentions. The proposal was backed by 79% of the bishops present.
Compiled by Saju Hasmukh
