The German bishops' conference president also said that in his view, a "lack of priests does not necessarily damage the vitality of the Church", telling interviewers that he hoped for changes to "certain formulations as they reflect the current state of doctrine in the Catechism" of the Catholic Church.
Whilst the "substance of the Faith" is immutable, Bätzing asserted that in his view, "the self-revelation of God continues steadily." Furthermore, the Church needs to always seek out the "signs of the times", and where necessary "develop" its teachings, including those on sexual morality, as CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, reported.
Catholic teaching on the development of doctrine is complex. But the Church teaches that doctrine cannot develop in such a way that it contradicts itself, and teaches that "no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Prior to his election to the role of president of the bishops' conference, Bätzing chaired the forum on sexuality of the "Synodal Process." On May 28, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Cologne announced he was no longer participating in that "Synodal Forum" as it endorsed "polyvalent sexuality".
In September 2019, Marianne Schlosser, a member of the International Theological Commission, announced that she was no longer available to participate in the process, citing concerns over both the approach and methodology of the "synodal path."
Schlosser, a professor of theology at the University of Vienna and the recipient of the 2018 Ratzinger Prize, was invited to take part in the Synodal Way's forum "on women in ecclesial roles and offices" as an expert.
Saying she could not identify with the intermediate report of the preparatory group, Schlosser raised a number of issues, in particular identifying a "fixation on ordination" of women.
Last year the German bishops announced plans for a two-year "Synodal Way," bringing together lay people and bishops to discuss four major topics: the way power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women.
They said the process would end with a series of "binding" votes -- raising concerns at the Vatican that the resolutions might challenge Church teaching and discipline.
In June, Pope Francis sent a 28-page letter to German Catholics urging them to focus on evangelization in the face of a "growing erosion and deterioration of faith."
"Every time an ecclesial community has tried to get out of its problems alone, relying solely on its own strengths, methods and intelligence, it has ended up multiplying and nurturing the evils it wanted to overcome," he wrote.
In September, the Vatican sent a letter to the German bishops declaring that their plans for the synod were "not ecclesiologically valid."
After a back and forth between the bishops' conference and Vatican officials, the first synodal assembly took place in Frankfurt at the end of January. The second meeting is expected to go ahead, though in a changed format and at a later date, due to coronavirus restrictions.
Initially, the process was scheduled to be completed in October 2021.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter