A German bishop has stated that while he accepts the Holy See’s ban on lay preaching, the custom is “common practice” in his diocese, and thus he will not sanction it.
Consecrated bishop in 2017, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf has led his diocese of Mainz since that same year and has come out in support of some of the more controversial elements of the German Synodal Way, such as married priests and same-sex blessings.
Speaking this week to the in-house news outlet of the German Bishops’ Conference, Katolisch.de, Kohlgraf commented on the recent response by the Holy See which rejected the German bishops’ request for an indult for lay preaching at Mass. Kohlgraf tried to tread a peculiar line of accepting the Vatican’s order, but refusing to take action to enforce it in his diocese.
