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🇩🇪 Germany /Culture & Society

20 years after Benedict’s visit, what a trip by Pope Leo to Germany could achieve

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • A German theologian says a visit by Pope Leo XIV could improve relations between the Vatican and Germany’s Catholic Church.
  • The trip could ease tensions over Germany’s Synodal Way and signal that the country’s church is again being recognized within the global Catholic Church.
  • Leo XIV has already received an invitation from German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and previously visited Germany as an Augustinian leader.

A visit by Pope Leo XIV to Germany could help repair strained relations between the Vatican and the German Catholic Church, according to Bonn moral theologian Jochen Sautermeister. “I believe a visit by Pope Leo XIV to Germany would be warmly welcomed by many,” he said.

The prospect recalls Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 journey to Bavaria, his birthplace and former home as a theologian, professor and archbishop. Pope Francis never visited the homeland of his predecessor. Sautermeister said Francis had a difficult relationship with the German Church and criticized its reform process, known as the Synodal Way. His reservations were reflected, the theologian said, in Francis’ remark that Germany did not need a second Protestant church.

I believe a visit by Pope Leo XIV to Germany would be warmly welcomed by many.

· Jochen SautermeisterThe Bonn moral theologian assessed the possible public reception of a papal visit.

A trip by Leo XIV could therefore carry a broader signal. It would show that the Catholic Church in Germany is again being seen as part of the worldwide Church, Sautermeister said. Before his election, the former Cardinal Prevost had already presented himself to German bishops as willing to engage in dialogue.

A visit by Pope Leo XIV to Germany would be a signal that the Catholic Church in Germany was once again being seen as part of the worldwide Church.

· Jochen SautermeisterHe described the symbolic importance such a trip could have for German Catholicism.

“Such a visit could help improve relations between the German Church and the Vatican, hopefully ease one or two tensions and clear up one or two misunderstandings,” Sautermeister said. He also described Leo XIV as culturally open and attentive to major social and global challenges, including artificial intelligence and big technology companies, education, justice, peace, environmental protection and the handling of abuse.

Sautermeister expects the pope to address some of those issues if he travels to Germany. He also said Leo could show how Germany’s Synodal Way fits with the global synodal process of the Synod on Synodality. The German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics launched the reform process after the abuse scandal. Steinmeier has already invited Leo XIV to Germany. As head of the Augustinian order, the future pope had also visited Germany, including Augustinian communities in Würzburg.

Such a visit could help improve relations between the German Church and the Vatican, hopefully ease one or two tensions and clear up one or two misunderstandings.

· Jochen SautermeisterHe explained how the trip might affect relations between Germany’s Church and the Vatican.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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