German Church Dialogue Mulled

Catholic Sentinel
March 13, 2012

http://www.catholicsentinel.org/Main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=34&ArticleID=17694

Catholic News Service photo A man walks below a frost-covered Wendelstein Church, near the summit of Germany's Wendelstein mountain in Bavaria Feb. 1. The church, a popular tourist destination, was built in 1890s and is overseen by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. A man walks below a frost-covered Wendelstein Church, near the summit of Germany's Wendelstein mountain in Bavaria. The church, a popular tourist destination, was built in the 1890s and is overseen by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

The German bishops welcome progress in the national dialogue on the Catholic Church's future, inaugurated in the wake of sexual abuse scandals.

The talks begin in June by 30 German bishops and 300 invited clergy and lay representatives continue through 2015, with each year examining a church task.

Several hundred Germans have claimed molestation by priests and church staffers since allegations were made against a Catholic college in Berlin in 2010.

Under church guidelines, people who work with Catholic youth must now obtain police checks and undergo psychiatric tests, while the church's 27 dioceses must have independent ombudsmen and experts.

Germany's 54 theology faculties and institutes report student admissions have dropped by half in the past 15 years. The sharpest decline was in Pope Benedict's native Bavaria.