In Germany, Synodal Way supports ordination of women priests

On February 4, 2022, in Frankfurt, participants of the "Synodal Way" meeting voted in favour of a document calling for the ordination of women priests in Frankfurt, reports CNA.

The document was passed with 174 votes in favour, 30 against and six abstentions during A plenary meeting of the German Catholic Church’s “Synodal Way”, which brings together Catholic bishops, clergy and laity of Germany seeking to modernise church life.

"The justification does not require the participation of women in all church ministries and institutions, but the exclusion of women from sacramental positions," says the document "Women in ministry and institutions in the Church".

In the debate before the vote, several speakers criticised the text, which will form the basis for further discussions before the expected conclusion of the "Synodal Way" in 2023.

Among the critics, there was Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, the female philosopher who won the Ratzinger Prize 2021 Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz and the female theologian Marianne Schlosser.

The vote came a day after members of the German group “New Beginning” called on bishops around the world to oppose the “Synodal Way”.

"The next great schism of Christianity is not far off. And it will originate again in Germany," members of the Catholic group “New Beginning” believe. 

As reported earlier, a Cardinal of the Catholic Church has called for the abolition of the vow of celibacy.

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