The bishops of Germany have formally adopted the statutes for a future national “Synodal Conference” following the conclusion of the controversial Synodal Way, setting the stage for a decisive judgement from Rome.
Meeting in Würzburg from February 23 to 26 for their spring plenary assembly, the members of the German Bishops’ Conference approved the text on February 24. The statutes will now be forwarded to the Holy See for recognition, without which the body cannot be established.
In a statement issued on the day of the vote, the conference said: “The plenary assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference today (February 24, 2026) adopted the statutes of the future Synodal Conference of the Catholic Church in Germany. The plenary assembly of the Central Committee of German Catholics had already approved the statutes in November 2025.”
The proposed Synodal Conference is intended to provide structural continuity to the Synodal Way, the reform process launched in 2019 in response to the abuse crisis and aimed at addressing questions of power, sexual morality, priestly life and the role of women. The statutes were finalised by the Synodaler Ausschuss in November 2025 and approved that same month by the Central Committee of German Catholics, known as the ZdK. With episcopal approval now secured, the project enters its final phase before possible implementation.
According to the preamble of the statutes, the Synodal Conference is conceived as a permanent body. “To serve this mission of missionary-synodal conversion and renewal of the Catholic Church in Germany, the Synodalkonferenz is established in joint sponsorship of the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK),” the text states. It adds that the conference “takes up its work in continuation of the concerns of the Synodal Way and on the basis of the final document of the Synod on Synodality” and “leads through synodal consultations and spiritual discernment to joint decisions”.
The document further declares that the new body “contributes to realising qualified participation throughout the life of the Church”, underlining its aim of embedding shared structures at a national level.
Article 1 of the statutes defines the Synodal Conference as “a synodal body, in which bishops and other faithful, according to their common baptismal dignity and respective vocation, jointly deliberate and pass resolutions, in order to do justice to the Church’s mission of sending”. It explicitly states that the final document of the Synod of Bishops forms “part of the ordinary magisterium” and cites a mandate from the General Secretariat of the Synod dated March 15, 2025. The article also affirms that the body “respects the constitutional order of the Church and safeguards the rights of diocesan bishops and the German Bishops’ Conference as well as diocesan procedures and bodies”.
Article 2 outlines the tasks of the Synodal Conference. Among them, it “deliberates and passes resolutions in the sense of ‘synodal decision-making processes’ … on important questions of church life of supra-diocesan significance”. It also commits the body to strengthening “synodal structures and a synodal culture in all areas of the Church” and to networking diocesan initiatives.
The composition of the new structure is detailed in Articles 3 and 4. Current plans foresee 27 diocesan bishops, 27 lay members and a further 27 elected representatives taking part. The statutes state that “the members of the Synodalkonferenz each have the same right to vote” and that they “are not bound by any instructions in the exercise of their rights”. The balanced composition is presented as an expression of the diversity of the People of God in Germany.
This comes after public assurances from Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, that the draft text had already been shared informally with the Vatican months earlier. He has said that Archbishop Filippo Iannone, Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, and the Dicastery for Bishops had received the statutes in advance for preliminary consideration.
Previous efforts to establish a “Synodal Council” with decision-making authority at national level encountered objections from the Holy See, which warned that such a body could not be placed above or alongside the authority of diocesan bishops. The present proposal avoids the earlier terminology and incorporates explicit references to safeguarding episcopal rights, but it similarly envisages a permanent mixed body exercising deliberative and resolution-passing functions.
If recognition is granted by the Vatican, the Synodal Conference is scheduled to hold its inaugural session in November 2026, with a second meeting planned for April 2027. The statutes are expected to be approved initially ad experimentum, in accordance with common canonical practice for new ecclesial structures.
By approving the statutes of the Synodal Conference, the German bishops have taken a further step in seeking to embed the synodal structures developed during that process into a standing national framework. The coming months will determine whether the Holy See judges the proposed body compatible with canon law and the constitutional order of the Church.
The file now rests in Rome. It is understood to be under review by the Dicastery for Bishops, with input from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Secretariat of State. Pope Leo XIV has been briefed repeatedly in recent months. The recognition process will determine whether the statutes are approved ad experimentum, amended heavily or refused in their current form. Past Roman practice suggests that experimental structures are tolerated only when they remain consultative rather than deliberative in matters touching governance or doctrine.
The most probable outcome is that Rome will require substantial amendments, ensuring that any Synodal Conference remains advisory and that diocesan bishops retain the final say. Provisions implying equal voting authority between bishops and lay members, or clauses obliging bishops to justify departures from conference resolutions, are unlikely to survive intact. Approval with explicit safeguards is conceivable, but only if the juridical limits are clear.
Should Rome refuse or insist upon extensive changes, many German bishops and lay leaders are expected to express sharp dissatisfaction. Vatican officials have warned since 2022 of the risk of a de facto rupture. Pope Leo XIV has signalled, more directly than his predecessor, that he will not countenance the creation of a quasi-autonomous national magisterium.
