Cardinal Meisner Accuses His Diocesan Council of Misrepresenting the Faith

Cardinal Meisner criticized his own Diocesan Council for statements on the dialog process, "who have distorted the teaching of the Catholic Church or actually contradicted it".   Disreputable demands for allowing Communion to remarried divorced and ordained women priests.

Cologne (kath.net/pek)  The "positive view on many successes of the dialog process, which our Diocesan Council has undertaken,  has been significantly overshadowed in any case by statements which have distorted or even contradicted Catholic teaching."  This is what Cologne's Joachim Cardinal Meisner said in a now published statement on his Diocesan Council of September 8, 2012 on the dialog process.

Kath.net documented the statement of the Archbishop as follows from our translation:

The purpose of the dialog process of the Diocesan Council to Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cologne has been published.  As Archbishop I am thankful for the serious efforts, that are behind these suggestions and proposals will become visible.  Some proposals are helpful for pastoral care, for the work in councils and societies.  The particular stress of social responsibility of the laity and their societies has spoken to my heart.

Also if the collaboration of our lay Christians in pastoral care is indispensable and surely also in various places can still be more intensive, but there is however a retreat in lay engagements in the inner-Church space which is a great error.   That the Diocesan Council has expressly intervened for the protection of work free Sundays and decisively engaged for the maintenance of Catholic grade schools, I heartily regard.  The faithful in the areas of pastoral care may and could not be released from the responsibility.


With great interest, I perceive also that is on the way of the work looked critically at our bodies in the association and the general pastoral care. The "session Catholicism" really requires a critical and honest reflection: What is beneficial? Which is a hindrance? What can be improved?

With its clear statement on the protection of the disabled and the unborn Diocesan clearly indicates what we must ultimately be measured, including particularly the laity involvement.

This positive view of the many ideas of the dialogue process, which has resulted in our Diocese is, however, considerably darkened by statements distorting the teaching of the Catholic Church or even contradicting it. Thus, Eucharistic Communion presupposes full communion and requires a life that corresponds to the Catholic faith. The statements on marriage are blurred here and ignore their unique significance for human coexistence. This is very unfortunate.

That the Diocesan Council has addressed the issue of celibacy thusly, I've actually expected this, because it thoroughly corresponds to today's mainstream. Only this expression of opinion contributes nothing to the question of priestly vocation. The Diocesan Council remains here only discouraged and stuck to the too familiar mainstream in its published opinion. I regret this and this would have expected statements independent of the mainstream.

To the priesthood, the doctrine of the Church is completely unique. In his Apostolic Letter of 22 May 1994 Pope John Paul II declares: "So therefore, any doubt about the important matter related to the divine constitution of the Church itself is eliminated, I declare by virtue of my office, to strengthen the brethren, that the Church has no authority whatsoever to raise Women to the priesthood, and that all the faithful of the Church finally have to abide by this decision." Suggestions and demands that are inconsistent with this final decision will result in ecclesiastical error, and will not lead to any positive results. Quite the contrary! You confuse and paralyze the forces in the effective use of the Church for the evangelization so urgently needed in this society.

+ Joachim Kardinal Meisner Erzbischof von Köln

Link to kath.net...