Catholic Church in Germany

The Latest

Cardinal Reinhard Marx.

German bishops respond to Vatican intervention, but documents indicate ongoing disagreement

Sep 13, 2019

By Ed Condon

The German bishops’ conference has responded to the Vatican’s intervention in preparations for a binding synodal process to be held... Read more

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

Vatican: German synod plans ‘not ecclesiologically valid’

Sep 12, 2019

By Ed Condon

In a letter sent to German bishops last week, the Vatican has said that plans for a binding Church synod... Read more

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising and Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne.

German bishops rejected plan for Francis-style ‘Priority of Evangelization’ in synodal path

Sep 10, 2019

By Ed Condon

The German bishops have rejected an alternative proposal for a synodal process centered on the “priority of evangelization” called for... Read more

People in the pews at Cologne Cathedral, Germany.

Analysis: Who are the Central Committee of German Catholics?

Sep 6, 2019

By Ed Condon

Following the news that the Church in Germany will proceed to form a new Synodal Assembly as part of a... Read more

 Cardinal Reinhard Marx and ZdK Chairman Thomas Sternberg on July 5, 2019 Photo: Martin Rothweiler / EWTN.TV

German bishops to green light binding 'Synodal Assembly'

Sep 5, 2019

By Ed Condon

The decision to proceed comes despite a warning from Pope Francis to the  German bishops that they must remain in step with... Read more

Pope Francis meets with the German bishop during their ad limina visit at the Vatican, Nov. 20, 2015.

'The situation is dramatic': on the papal letter to Catholics in Germany

Jul 2, 2019

Monsignor Michael Fuchs, vicar general of the Diocese of Regensburg, has published a reflection on the letter Pope Francis has... Read more

Pope Francis meets with German bishops during their ad limina visit Nov. 20, 2015.

Pope Francis tells German Catholics to focus on evangelization

Jun 29, 2019

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis sent a 28-page letter to Catholics in Germany Saturday calling for a focus on evangelization in the face... Read more

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

German cardinal thanks Pope Francis for his letter’s call to conversion

Jun 29, 2019

By Courtney Mares

German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki thanked Pope Francis for ‘fearlessly’ calling Catholics in Germany to be a missionary church in... Read more

The Virgin Mary on the Ghent altar, created around 1430 by Jan van Eyck.

German bishop supports 'Church strike' for women's ordination

May 15, 2019

At least one bishop has offered his support for a week-long “Church strike” organized by German Catholic women, during which... Read more

 Cologne Cathedral.

German Church membership will be halved by 2060, new study says

May 6, 2019

The number of Germans who pay a state-administered “Church tax” to the Catholic Church or the country’s largest Protestant group... Read more

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising at the Holy See press office, Feb. 15, 2017.

Open letter to Cardinal Marx urges changes to Church teaching on sexual morality

Feb 4, 2019

In an open letter published Sunday by a German daily, nine German Catholics, including two prominent Jesuits, demand a break... Read more

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising at the Holy See press office, Oct. 27, 2017.

Cardinal Marx apologizes for sex abuse by clerics in Germany

Sep 25, 2018

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, chairman of the German bishops' conference, personally apologized Tuesday for “failure and pain”... Read more

Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Cologne, Germany.

Leaked German study documents thousands of sexual abuse cases

Sep 12, 2018

A study commissioned by the German bishops’ conference reports the sexual abuse of thousands of children in that country over... Read more

After CDF letter, German bishops' next assembly to explore intercommunion

Jun 27, 2018

Following months of controversy, the German bishops' conference have said they will further explore, in accordance with a letter from... Read more

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising and Cardinal Rainier Woelki of Cologne in Rome, March 14, 2013.

Cardinal Marx reportedly to speak to Pope Francis on intercommunion handout

Apr 19, 2018

The German bishops' conference has denied reports that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has rejected its planned... Read more

St. Peter's Basilica.

Vatican reportedly rejects German bishops' proposal for intercommunion of spouses

Apr 18, 2018

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has reportedly rejected a planned proposal by the German bishops' conference to... Read more

Xanten Cathedral, Germany.

Critic: German Catholicism is rich – but in the wrong ways

Aug 11, 2017

The Catholic Church in Germany is “spiritually impoverished and in decline, yet rich in material means.”  Read more

Report claims decades of abuse against 500 German choir boys

Jul 18, 2017

A new report claims that more students of a prestigious German choir were subjected to physical abuse than originally thought,... Read more

Pope Francis meets with the bishops of Germany during their ad limina visit to the Vatican, Nov. 20, 2015.

German bishops say the divorced-and-remarried may receive Communion

Feb 1, 2017

By Elise Harris

The German bishops have published their own guidelines on Amoris laetitia allowing, in certain cases, for divorced-and-remarried Catholics to receive... Read more