Bishop: Connection in the Catholic Church "an opportunity"

Religion - Bishop: Connection in the Catholic Church "an opportunity"

The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference is based in Limburg, and his deputy has recently been his neighbor from Fulda. Never before has the Catholic Church in Germany been so Hessian, it would almost seem. Bishop Michael Gerber of Fulda does not want to accept this observation, but emphasizes the good contact with his Limburg colleague Georg Bätzing.

"This Hessian connection is certainly also an opportunity for close cooperation between him and me in the leadership of the German Bishops' Conference," said Gerber in an interview with the German Press Agency. The 53-year-old was elected deputy chairman by the Bishops' Conference at the end of September. However, the Bishops' Conference must of course keep the whole picture in mind, "especially the differences between East and West, North and South, which we also have elsewhere in society." This is a challenge.

"It is an opportunity that the distances between Bishop Bätzing and me are shorter and that there are also many occasions outside the Bishops' Conference where we meet," said Gerber. "Even if that was certainly not a criterion for my choice."

Gerber came to Fulda from Freiburg a good four and a half years ago. "You can certainly still tell from my tone of voice that I'm from Baden. It will stay that way," he said. He feels very much at home in Hesse. "I have also arrived in the countryside and have come to appreciate the people between Hanau and north of Kassel, including the diversity of the diocese."

According to Gerber, the district of Fulda in his diocese is a traditionally Catholic area. "The Main-Kinzig district with the Frankfurt catchment area is a denominationally very mixed area." And north of Kassel, the Catholic Church is in a thinned-out situation and in the minority. "I find this overall situation very appealing and also an opportunity for me." The fact that the diocese is comparatively small gives him the opportunity to maintain close contact with full-time and voluntary workers. "I really enjoy visiting parishes, even "just for fun" on a Sunday, without a church anniversary or confirmation being on the agenda."

The diocese has now reached a new phase in the reorganization of the parishes, in which the focus is on what the individual committees in the parishes should look like. At the end of the reforms, there should only be 28 parishes. At the beginning of the reorganization, there were around 250. "The consolidation to 28 parishes with a number of up to 15,000 Catholics is moderate compared to what other dioceses are doing."

In northern Hesse, the Catholic Church is in the diaspora, which means that, according to the current concept, there will only be one parish in the Schwalm-Eder and Werra-Meißner districts. "In the interests of transparency, we have to tell people reliably, as best we can, what the final stage will be, at least for the next 20 or 30 years," he said.

Dealing with the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church remains a very important issue for him, said Gerber. "The church has a great moral responsibility to clear this up. For very many of those affected, an experience of abuse can have a formative effect on all other relationships in their lives." It will certainly take until 2025 before the diocese of Fulda can present the results of its educational work.

According to Gerber, the central instrument in the diocese is the independent investigation commission, which is made up of nine people - including two representatives appointed by the state of Hesse. There is a "very intensive processing of files", in which retired criminal investigators are also involved. The commission also seeks direct contact with those affected. Representatives of the advisory board for victims and a psychologist are also involved. "All of this takes place in a protected environment," emphasized Gerber.

In addition, there is an approach called "eyewitnesses speak", the bishop continued. "If there was abuse in a place, then there are people who were responsible there or who may have witnessed some of it. Their accounts can be helpful in understanding the whole thing," he said. "We are feeling our way forward because it's not easy." Among other things, questions arose about the practical implementation and how to deal with contemporary witnesses.

"I have already taken action in this direction myself, for example by holding a church service, where I also addressed the topic of abuse and invited people to come and talk to me about it after the service," reported Gerber. Flyers were also distributed to inform people about how they can come forward independently.

Diocese of Fulda