Upcoming conclave: Catholic layperson: The course of the opening must continue

The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK), Irme Stetter-Karp, hopes that the next Pope will continue the path initiated by Francis. “We wish that a Pope is chosen who continues to open the doors that Pope Francis opened. We need a leadership, the step keeps up with the challenges of the 21st century,” said Stetter-Karp of the German Press Agency.

If a conservative is chosen, that would be a major challenge for the Catholic Church in Germany. “Of course we are aware that there are forces in the Catholic Church who want to continue differently, who want to preserve the power of clerics who see in too great freedom of the faithful dangers for the unity of the church,” said Stetter-Karp. “There is this risk and it is not small.” If it occurs, you have to see how you would deal with it: “But it would certainly be much more difficult for the German Church.”

The central committee of the German Catholics is the representation of the laypersons, the non-clerician in the parishes on site. Together with the German Bishops’ Conference, the ZDK had initiated a reform process in 2019, the synodal way. However, this had caused considerable resistance in the Roman Curia – the central administration in Rome, although there was a rapprochement again recently. Pope Francis had also not supported the course without reservation. Surveys have repeatedly shown that the vast majority of believers in Germany are pushing a reform of the church, for example to more rights for women and a liberalization of the Catholic sexual morality.