CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2020 / 05:00 am
Pope Francis has expressed "dramatic concern" about the Catholic Church in Germany, according to a bishop who met him this week.
Bishop Heinz-Josef Algermissen said that the pope addressed the situation in Germany when he spoke to him after the general audience Oct. 7.
The former bishop of Fulda, in the west-central German state of Hesse, said that the pope recalled the letter he wrote to German Catholics in June 2019, urging them to focus on evangelization. Francis reportedly complained that his message had been ignored.
The pope issued the letter amid concerns at the Vatican over the German Church's "Synodal Way," which is bringing together lay people and bishops to discuss four main topics: the way power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women.