Summary
At the Synod’s sixth general assembly, the Synodal Council voted on decisions intended to influence further cooperation within the Catholic Church in Germany. Among these were changes to the election process for the Synodal Conference, which is scheduled to meet for the first time in November and will establish financial competence. The Synodal Council decided to introduce quotas for non-Catholic members of the third contingent of the Synodal Conference, totaling 27 individuals. These include representatives from the Order of Women Religious (13), the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) (2), and the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) (2). Quotas were also established for individuals under the age of 30 (5) and those from monoglott communities (3). Originally, Emeka Ani proposed adding three new Synodal Council members to balance gender quotas. However, due to warnings about having too many quotas, Ani initially requested five instead. After advice from Archbishop Stefan of Hamburg, he reduced his request to three. The Synodal Council also agreed to make the monitoring system for dioceses public during the Synodal Conference. Previously, Cardinal Reinhard Marx had warned against having too many quotas and urged Ani to reconsider his proposal. Nevertheless, the majority (21 in favor, 10 against, 2 abstained) approved the decision to continue monitoring decisions from the Synodal Way by dioceses within the Synodal Conference. However, this was narrowly supported with the approval coming just short of a two-thirds majority and facing opposition from Rome due to concerns about having an oversight institution.
Key Topics
Synodale Wahl, Frauenquote, Monitoring Diözese
