German Catholic women will continue to press for equal rights in the Church. They are determined to move forward, they will not stop. They were tired of waiting and the constant stalling of the Curia. A week after the end of the Synod, which was “disappointingly” inconclusive and resulted in many vague promises, discontent and pressure are once again felt in Germany. The Women’s Association (kfd) expressed its highly critical view of the “unsatisfactory result” achieved. “If the bishops, the Vatican and the Pope are not truly willing, after years of consultation, to accept women into all sacred ministries and allow them access to management, then there is little hope for peace to be achieved,” Agnes Wuckelt said in a statement. study groups that have to deal with the so-called women’s issue.” The reference to study groups relates to the ten study commissions that the Pope initiated with the end of the Synod to understand whether it would be possible to open opportunities for female deacons in the future. It has remained unresolved for over forty years and has recently It’s an issue that faces resistance from all conservative bishops. The Pope expressed his opposition to it in an interview with an American television channel a few months ago, saying, “If it’s about priests with holy orders, no.”

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SYNODALISM

Regina Heyder, president of the Theological Commission, underlined that continuing to talk about synodality and then always excluding women means cutting this concept in half. “There is no synodality without the female component.”

If German Catholic women are unhappy, angry and promise to continue the struggle, the attitude of Bishop Georg Baetzing, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, is no less problematic. In support of the women’s issue, he even sent two letters to the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith during the World Synod, precisely to encourage the diaconate. In his first letter to Cardinal Victor Fernandez, he included the document produced through the synodal route followed in recent years. In the second letter, he responded to Fernandez’s stance that the time was not yet ripe: “It is a matter that I see quite differently,” Baetzing said, acknowledging the enormous disappointment caused by this latest postponement.

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DISAPPOINTMENT

Claudia Lücking-Michel, member of the Synodal Committee and vice-president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), summarized the common sentiments to the German agency KNA. “Then we should be glad that the female deaconship has not yet been banned and that they have left the door open for us. And hasn’t the topic been removed from the synod discussion? And how much longer do they think women can wait? Someone should step up and say to them: Oh yes, can you be a priest now too?”

As for the document approved by the Synod, which defines women primarily in terms of their nurturing role, she added: “Women are admired for their capacity to suffer, for their motherhood and for their warmth, and this makes me very uneasy. My capacity for suffering has reached its limit.”