The German rainbow church: are the majority of bishops heretical or in schism? (2)
By Oliver Wagner | 12 November 2025
This article follows The German rainbow church: are the majority of bishops heretical or in schism? (1)
The question of mandatory celibacy for priests is less dogmatically charged than those of homosexuality and female ordination, discussed in the previous article, as celibacy is considered theologically to be a Church discipline and not a divine law. Nevertheless, the German position is radical here too: the action plan “Priestly Celibacy – Encouragement and Openness,” adopted in March 2023, calls for priests to be allowed to marry and was supported by about 75 percent of the bishops present.
Bätzing already stated in 2019: “Celibacy should not be an obligation, but voluntary in the future.” This position directly contradicts the repeatedly affirmed stance of both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, who have both upheld mandatory celibacy for priests of the Latin rite.
And how is Rome responding to Germany’s misguided path? From the outset, Pope Francis’ attitude toward the German Synodal Way was marked by a remarkable ambivalence, which both sides — reformers and conservatives — tried to claim for themselves.
As early as 29 June 2019, shortly after preparations for the Synodal Way began, Francis wrote a letter “To the pilgrim people of God in Germany.” This letter is a prime example of the often lamented “ambiguity” of Pope Francis’ pontificate. On the one hand, the Pope emphasised the need for evangelization and warned against purely structural reform: “There is a great temptation to seek only structural solutions to the problems, organizational reforms, functional and sociological adjustments.” On the other hand, he spoke of the need to listen to the “signs of the times” and to take “new paths.”
What the letter did not mention is revealing: the word “abuse” — the actual reason for the Synodal Way — does not appear once in the entire letter. Instead, the theme of “evangelization” dominates (mentioned more than a dozen times). This led to completely contradictory interpretations: reformers saw it as encouragement to continue on their path; critics interpreted it as a clear warning not to get lost in structural debates.
The following years were marked by contradictory signals from Rome:
Signs of Criticism:
- In June 2022, Francis said in an interview with Jesuit journalists about the Synodal Way: “There is a very good evangelical church in Germany. We don’t need two.” He criticised that the process was initiated “by intellectual and theological elites” and was “strongly influenced by external constraints.”
- In July 2022, the Vatican Secretariat of State issued a sharp statement: the Synodal Way was “not authorized to oblige bishops and the faithful to accept new forms of governance and new orientations of doctrine and morals”.
- During the ad limina visit of the German bishops in November 2022, Curia Cardinals Ladaria, Ouellet, and Parolin sharply criticised the Synodal Way. Ouellet even spoke of a looming “latent schism” and a “project of ‘changing the Church'”.
Signs of encouragement:
- In December 2023, Francis approved the document Fiducia Supplicans,” which—albeit within narrow limits—allowed pastoral blessings for same-sex couples. German bishops interpreted this as a boost for their position.
- Francis consistently avoided explicitly prohibiting the Synodal Way or reprimanding individual bishops. His strategy seemed to be more focused on delay and integration into the global synodal process.
- In personal conversations, Francis is said to have been more moderate toward German bishops than in public statements—which reinforced the impression that he wanted to keep both sides happy.
This ambivalence led to a paradoxical situation: German reformers felt encouraged to continue, while at the same time the Vatican issued increasingly sharp warnings. Critics accuse Francis of promoting division through his lack of clarity, rather than preventing it.
The election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as pope in May 2025 was seen by many as a potential turning point in Rome’s attitude toward the German reform process. Prevost had taken a more traditional line during his time as bishop and later as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
Particular attention was paid to a speech he gave in 2012, in which the then-Bishop Prevost declared that Western media and pop culture were “promoting sympathy for beliefs that are contrary to the Gospel” – explicitly mentioning a “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families”. This statement was widely quoted after his election and led many to expect that he would take a harder line on German reform efforts.
In September 2025, just a few months after his election, Leo XIV gave an interview in which he explicitly criticised “ritualised blessings” for same-sex couples. He said, “In Northern Europe, they are already publishing rituals for blessing ‘people who love each other’, as they call it, which explicitly contradicts the document Fiducia Supplicans approved by Pope Francis.”
This statement was remarkably clear and direct — in stark contrast to the often convoluted wording of his predecessor. Leo XIV made it unmistakably clear that he considers the German (and Northern European) liturgical drafts for blessing ceremonies to be a transgression of the boundaries set in Fiducia Supplicans.
Bishop Bätzing responded to this development with remarkable composure. In an interview in September 2025, he stated that he had “confidence” in the way Leo XIV was “accompanying the Church in Germany”. In view of the papal criticism, this formulation seems almost like a formula of appeasement — or a deliberate reinterpretation of reality.
Conservative Vatican media commented on the German stance in a much harsher tone. The Roman newspaper Il Messaggero wrote that the German bishops were “simply going their own way” despite the obvious irritation of the new pope. The conservative Vatican outlet Silere non possum accused Bätzing of “pretending not to understand” the fundamental difference between spontaneous gestures of blessing and formalised rites.
Another episode illustrates the discrepancy between German self-portrayal and Roman perception. In April 2024, the joint conference of the DBK and ZdK adopted the “guidelines” for blessing ceremonies. Bätzing repeatedly emphasised that these had been developed “in consultation” with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In October 2024, however, it became known that the responsible German working group, led by Bishop Stephan Ackermann (Trier), had explicitly stated in a letter to Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández (Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) that it “did not intend to obtain formal approval of this text by the Dicastery“. This unusual wording suggests that the German bishops were aware that full Vatican approval was not to be expected.
In fact, sources from the magazine Communio reported that the dicastery had “not approved either version of the document.” Moreover, Cardinal Fernández is said to have made it clear in his reply to Ackermann that the German document “does not comply with the provisions of Fiducia Supplicans, as the Holy Father recently confirmed in an interview.”
As already indicated above, an often overlooked but crucial aspect of the German bishops’ impending separation from Rome is the role of the ZdK. This umbrella organization of Catholic lay associations is formally an equal partner of the Bishops’ Conference in the Synodal Path. This alone constitutes an ecclesiological scandal, since traditionally lay people have an advisory but not a decisive voice in matters of doctrine.
The ZdK has often taken an even more progressive stance than many bishops in the Synodal Path. For example, it has called for:
- The complete equality of homosexual partnerships with marriage
- The priesthood for women without any ifs or buts
- The abolition of compulsory celibacy
- Co-decision rights for lay people in the appointment of bishops
In a sense, the ZdK acts as a driving force, pushing the bishops in an increasingly progressive direction. Critics see this as a reversal of the theological order: it is not the magisterium that dictates and the faithful who follow, but the faithful (or their self-appointed representatives) who set the agenda, and the magisterium is expected to follow suit.
And here another major problem of the Catholic Church in Germany becomes apparent: the almost complete disappearance of the self-image of priests and bishops as shepherds of the faithful entrusted to them. As can be observed in the secular world, the concept of responsibility has also completely disappeared in the Church. Responsibility is uncomfortable, exhausting and requires strength and great trust in God.
But where is that supposed to come from when demonic forces have been infiltrating the training of priests for decades? The normal seminary in Germany today is a gathering place for woke indoctrination, the watering down of Catholic doctrine, and the softening of priest candidates. They are unsettled by “experts”, confused by sins such as “Christian yoga” and finally released onto parishes completely disoriented. The result: the Faith is becoming less and less tangible in “holy” Masses (altar and priests in rainbow colors), and more and more people are leaving the Faith and the Church.
The number of Catholics in Germany fell from around 27 million in the 1990s to around 20 million in the 2020s. Regular Mass attendance is below 10 percent — in some regions even significantly lower. The number of priestly ordinations has fallen dramatically: from over 300 per year in the 1960s to less than 50 today in some cases. In Germany, ever larger so-called “pastoral areas” are emerging, in which the only remaining priest accompanies several formerly independent parishes and, as one priest put it, becomes a traveling salesman in matters of the sacraments. Adoration? Daily Mass? Impossible!
One thing is certain: the Church in Germany is in the process of self-destruction because a Church that has long since lost sight of Jesus, its heart, cannot be a source of salvation. The destruction of the fold becomes a danger to the remaining sheep that it is supposed to shepherd according to our Lord’s great commission.
The few traditionalist seminaries that are flourishing, and can hardly cope with the rush of candidates, show that there is another way. Parishes led by such priests are consistently large, growing, and living the true Faith with joy and confidence. But they are in the overwhelming minority.
At the end of the day, it remains a mystery why Rome does not stop these unholy machinations in Germany. The Vatican, led by the Pope, must finally redeem the suffering faithful and enable them to live out the pure Catholic Faith again, giving them shepherds who make this possible. This is something that only our Lord Jesus Christ Himself can bring about. Let us pray for it!