Leo is an ‘interested pastor’ of German Church, says Bätzing

The German bishops will meet for their plenary assembly in Fulda on 22-25 September where Bishop Bätzing will report on subjects covered during his meeting with the Pope.

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the president of the German bishops’ conference, met Pope Leo in a private audience on 4 September.

“I am grateful for today’s meeting with Pope Leo XIV and the good and meaningful conversation we were able to have,” Bätzing said, describing the Pope as “an attentive listener and interested pastor”.

“I am very happy that Pope Leo XIV is accompanying the Church in Germany with confidence,” he said.

Among the decisions expected from Rome are appointments to the currently-vacant dioceses of Münster and Eichstätt and a response the complaint filed by the German bishops’ Advisory Council for Abuse Survivors against Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne.

The bishops will meet for their plenary assembly in Fulda on 22-25 September where Bätzing will give a report on subjects covered during his meeting with the Pope.

As prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops before his election to the papacy, Cardinal Robert Prevost was one of three senior Vatican officials who wrote to the German bishops in February 2024 warning that their plans to form a “synodal committee” were in breach of canon law.

Thomas Schüller, a canon lawyer and member of the Synodal Committee formed later that year, warned last week that the mood at Synodal Path discussions was discouraging and the “entire synodal process in Germany is on the brink” ahead of reform initiative’s next meeting in January.

“Most bishops are spiritually burned out and tired,” he told the Diocese of Münster’s Kirche + Leben weekly. “They are tired of having to discuss essential issues with the faithful in a synodal – that is, participatory – manner, or even make decisions together with them.”

The vacancy in Eichstätt followed the resignation of Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke in June at the age of 70, saying he felt an “inner fatigue” from the “challenges, scandals and unresolved conflicts”. He was one of four bishops, including Cardinal Woelki, who voiced doubts about the Synodal Path and refused to join the Synodal Committee.

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