New German Catholic Church Chief Stirs up Traditions, Deutche Welle, February 19, 2008

New German Catholic Church Chief Stirs up Traditions

Deutche Welle
February 19, 2008

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3135174,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-top-1022-rdf

Having just taken office, the new head of the German Catholic Church, Robert Zollitsch has already caused controversy. His peers have frowned over his suggestion that clerical celibacy is not "theologically necessary."

In an interview with the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, 69-year-old archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch, who is now head of the German Catholic Church, said that celibacy and the unmarried lives of priests were a "gift," but not essential.

Zollitsch doesn't seem to think that priests necessarily have to stay celibate

Furthermore, he said it would be a "revolution" if the celibacy tradition within the Catholic Church were dissolved.

Upon this week's publication of the interview, Regensburg's bishop, Gerhard-Ludwig Mùller, said in a prompt press release: "All of the specifics of being a priest and the corresponding rules of celibacy could not be expanded upon, as a theological context would require, in a quick interview."

"The Second Vatican Council made clear in Article 16 — "Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests" — what the decisive requirements are," Mùller added. "That is and will remain the policy of the Catholic Church."

No end to strife in sight

Mùller maintained that no one should presume that the celibacy rules of the Catholic Church would be abolished.

Zollitsch (l) follows in the footsteps of Cardinal Karl Lehmann

As the Sùddeutsche Zeitung daily pointed out in its Tuesday edition, such a refutation of Zollitsch's stance demonstrates the displeasure it caused among the more conservative bishops in the German Bishops' Conference, an assembly of the bishops and archbishops of all the German dioceses.

Yet the majority of bishops within the conference voted for Zollitsch last week as the new head of the German Catholic Church.

The archbishop of Freiburg is not only known for his more liberal views on celibacy, he has also professed his support for day-care nurseries for children (as opposed to the more traditional view that mothers should stay at home).

And he has said that if the German government can draw up legal guidelines for gay and lesbian relationships and marriages, that he can do the same, the Sùddeutsche noted — a view to which Pope Benedict XVI has objected.