German nun Birgit Weiler hopes that episcopal conferences will soon be replaced by synodal ecclesial assemblies. The theologian, who has worked in Peru since 1990, said this in an interview with the portal katholisch.de.
The Bishop of Essen, Franz-Josef Overbeck, believes it is conceivable that the German dioceses will have to be merged at some point.
Weiler referred to the CEAMA Church conference in the Amazon region – the result of the special Amazon synod at the Vatican in 2019. Lay people (women and men) also participate in CEAMA general assemblies. Environmental and sociopolitical issues would be discussed, as well as ecclesiastical, such as the conception of the rite itself. “The decisions made are binding on the bishops and all other participants.”
“Healing decentralization”
Regarding the issue of a possible sacramental diaconate for women, Weiler said that in the Amazon women already performed “several diaconal services.” From her point of view, a consecration would be “an important sign that the Church recognizes your vocation and your charisma”. In view of the “healthy decentralization” desired by the Pope, the religious warned of “different speeds” in different parts of the Church; This can “quickly lead to assessments that harm others, for example, if they are seen as backward and not yet sufficiently developed.”
At the same time, “decentralization and therefore greater responsibility and decision-making authority for episcopal conferences” would also “allow for greater diversity,” says Birgit Weiler. With regard to the female diaconate, this could mean that some local churches introduce it with the approval of Rome, while other local churches “make a different decision in this regard in their context”. There is already a “wide variety of rites and practices” in the church.
(katholisch.de – sk)