Marx: Church cannot succumb to US political divides
The Archbishop of Munich and Freising said that right-wing movements often claim points of connection with the Church ‘but what comes from the extreme right is always divisive’.
The Church must not allow itself to be divided by contemporary politics, Cardinal Reinhard Marx warned, insisting that it distinguish itself from the political right.
In a statement last week, the Archbishop of Munich and Freising said the divisions of US politics were appearing in Germany, and that right-wing movements often thought that they had points of connection with the Church, “but what comes from the extreme right is always divisive”.
“Among us are many who are not democratic, something we have to watch out for,” Marx said. “How do we manage to stay in touch with those who hesitate and waver?”
He said the Church must advocate for democracy, not just for its own survival but “for the sake of the people, so that our parishes, organisations and religious communities build bridges, set up lights and are instruments of peace”.
Marx denied that the German bishops’ disagreements about the Synodal Path reform initiatives amounted to significant division. Although some bishops do not support plans to create a supra-diocesan synodal body, he said, should it receive approval from Rome then the bishops would reach a consensus together.
The German Church’s reform proposals have struggled to win Vatican support, a situation affirmed last week by a report in the journal Communio that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith had not given approval for a document providing pastoral guidance for blessings of same-sex relationships. It said they had informed the DDF of the document but “no formal approval” was expected.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the DDF prefect, confirmed the report, telling the US outlet The Pillar that the dicastery “didn’t approve anything” and had reminded the German bishops that Fiducia Supplicans – the 2023 document on blessings for couples in “irregular situations” – explicitly excludes any form of ritualisation of such blessings. He said DDF officials commented on a version of the German document, and that amendments were made in the light of the criticisms.
In an interview with Crux published last month, Pope Leo said that Churches in “Northern Europe” were “already publishing rituals of blessing ‘people who love one another’”. He said this “specifically against the document that Pope Francis approved, Fiducia Supplicans, which basically says, of course we can bless all people, but it doesn’t look for a way of ritualising some kind of blessing because that’s not what the Church teaches”.
Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the president of the German bishops’ conference, said that allegations of “episcopal disobedience” in Germany were “simply absurd”. He defended the blessings document at the conference’s autumn assembly at the end of September, maintaining it had been developed in consultation with Rome.
While blessings should not be confused with the Sacrament of Marriage, he said, “the manner in which the blessing is conducted … should express appreciation for the people who ask for the blessing, for their togetherness and their faith”.
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