The German bishops’ Synodal Path initiative concluded a three-day meeting with a vote to form a permanent council, composed of lay people as well as bishops, to guide the German Church.

After rejecting one major statement that would have endorsed changes in the Church teaching on sexuality, the assembly voted in favor other statements that:

  • Called an end to “taboos” and an open attitude toward “non-heterosexual priests;”
  • Pushed for reconsideration of women’s ordination, saying that “it should no longer be gender that decides on the allocation of ministries;”
  • Recommended changes in church employment policies, so that they will not be “discriminatory with regard to employees who live contrary to the traditional sexual morals of the Church;” and
  • Urged “a re-evaluation of homosexuality in the Magisterium.”

    • Although the Vatican has cautioned that the Synodal Path has no authority to change Church teaching or discipline, the meeting gave the new council power to “take fundamental decisions of supra-diocesan significance” on issues that are not controlled by the individual dioceses.