VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register
NEWS ANALYSIS: Archbishop Stephan Burger of Freiburg im Breisgau said the changes will be made in the interest of maintaining the Church’s ‘credibility’ in the eyes of the general public.
by EDWARD PENTIN 12/15/2014
VATICAN CITY — Despite a postponed vote last month, a German prelate has said he is confident the country’s bishops will change Church rules to allow employment of remarried divorcees and men and women living in same-sex relationships, despite growing opposition to the move.
Archbishop Stephan Burger of Freiburg im Breisgau said the German bishops’ conference “will revise” the ecclesiastical labor laws (Kirchliches Arbeitsrecht), according to a Dec. 9 interview with the German news website Morgenweb. He said the changes will be made in the interests of maintaining the Church’s “credibility” in the eyes of the general public.
According to Church sources in Germany who ask to remain anonymous, the bishops were to vote unanimously in favor of change on Nov. 24, but they decided to postpone the decision until April, after a federal court ruling supported the Church’s current laws that forbid employing staff whose lifestyles run contrary to Church teaching.
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