Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, head of the bishops’ conferences in the European Union (Comece), sees danger in the British plan to break its Brexit treaty with the EU and predicts Mass attendance and other Catholic activities will decline once the coronavirus pandemic has receded.
But looking further ahead, the Archbishop of Luxembourg thinks the pandemic presents an opportunity for a renewed Catholicism and thinks women must have a greater voice in the Church. While not specifically advocating women’s ordination, he said in recent interviews: “I’m open to it”.
Cardinal Hollerich, a member of the Jesuits’ Japan province, said breaking the Brexit treaty over Northern Ireland “could badly damage the world order”. He hoped such a step would not ruin ties between the peoples of Britain and the EU.
He said: “It hurts me. I have a problem understanding that one doesn't want to respect treaties,” he told the German Catholic agency KNA. “I don't want to imply that Prime Minister [Boris] Johnson is a populist, but his behaviour looks populist.”
The pandemic was shifting world power away from the West, promoting the economies of more successful regions and demanding more aid for countries made even poorer because of the crisis. “We should abandon the Eurocentrism in our thinking and, with great humility, work with the other countries for the future of humanity,” he told the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano.
Lockdowns and social distancing are also leaving their mark on “cultural Catholics, of the left and right” who will not return to regular Mass attendance, he said. “Many Christians by habit are staying away, because they notice that they don't miss the Church.”
“First Communions, catechism for children — all that will drop in numbers too, I’m pretty certain of that,” he said, adding these trends were already present but accelerated by the pandemic.
However, Cardinal Hollerich saw this development as an opportunity for the Church to develop new forms of evangelisation, not a restoration of what existed before.
“We have to build communities, and not just by Mass attendance,” he said. “We need to act and put in place new missionary structures.”
The cardinal said the most important issue for Germany’s synodal path meetings was women’s role in the Church. “I don’t say they have to become priests – I simply do not know that – but I’m open to it. In any case, it’s clear that the current situation is not sufficient.”
Reflecting this concern, the cardinal commented on the title of the Pope’s coming encyclical Fratelli tutti when he was asked about it. “I'd rather say Fratelli e Sorelle tutti so it's all brothers and sisters...” he said.
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