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German bishop at Synod: no clinging to tradition

October 23, 2023

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CWN Editor's Note: In a noteworthy exchange with reporters covering the Synod on Synodality, Bishop Franz Josef Overbeck of Essen warned against “clinging to habits and traditionalisms,” and insisted that if the Church does not respond to the “signs of the times,” interest in the faith will decline.

Bishop Overbeck drew a good deal of media attention by reporting that since taking over leadership of the Essen diocese in 2009 he had ordained only 15 priests, while presiding at the funerals of 300. Those figures, he said, show the need for the Church to find “other solutions.”

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  • Posted by: dcnmthompson7484 - Oct. 29, 2023 12:54 PM ET USA

    This bishop is wise in the ways of the world. His solutions and thoughts are worldly and therefore he has a point. The problem is, that he will craft a church that functions in the world with or without God. With or without the Holy SPirit. THerefore, Jesus is a do-gooder who has no conditions for holiness. THe Holy spirit is just a spirit and GOd is simply a deity who has made the world and leaves it to us to figure things out. A CHurch like that doesnt point to GOd, it points back to ourselves