The diocese under the tenure of the president of the German bishops’ conference and its S<em>ynodaler Weg</em> – German Synodal Way – has ordained no priests in an annual period for the first time since its creation in 1821.
The Diocese of Limburg in western Germany, which is led by Bishop Georg Bätzing, in 2023 had its least successful year in recruiting young men to the priesthood amidst a growing vocations crisis in the country.
Bishop Bätzing is known for his progressive stances. He is a prominent advocate for the “ordination” of women to the priesthood and reform of the requirement for clerical celibacy. He has <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250573/german-catholic-bishops-leader-calls-for-change-to-catechism-on-sexuality"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">challenged</mark></a> the Catechism and the Church’s magisterium by holding that sex out marriage is not a sin and has praised laws recognising civil marriage amongst same-sex couples.
In an<mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"> <a href="https://www.zeit.de/2023/39/georg-baetzing-deutsche-bischofskonferenz-katholische-kirche-reform">interview</a></mark> for <em>Die Zeit</em>, Bätzing revealed that he was troubled by the lack of vocations: “What worries me is that almost nobody wants to become a priest, because there is no Catholic Church without priests,” he said.
Questions have been raised about whether the lack of recruitment could be influenced by the "climate imposed by the Synodal Path which has denied several points of the Faith and wants to put into place structures opposed to the divine constitution of the Church", <a href="https://fsspx.news/en/news/no-ordinations-diocese-limburg-2023-41950"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">notes</mark></a> <em>FSSPX News</em>, the communication agency of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X.
Elsewhere in Germany, numbers are historically low. In 2021, 62 men were ordained to the priesthood; 48 as diocesan priests and 14 in religious orders. In 2022 there were 45<strong> </strong>ordinations; 33 as diocesan priests and 12 in religious orders.
Diocesan priests are generally confined to a particular diocese for their working lives, though they may and frequently do move parishes within those dioceses.
The Diocese of Limburg has made frequent news under Bätzing and in 2022 it approved new “mandatory guidelines on sex-education” <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://www.newwaysministry.org/2023/01/24/german-diocese-issues-remarkably-lgbtq-positive-guidelines-for-sex-education/">described</a> </mark>as “remarkably LGBTQ-positive” and appreciative of “diverse sexual identities”.
The new guidelines, <a href="https://katholisch.de/artikel/43149-zehn-leitlinien-bistum-limburg-positioniert-sich-neu-zu-sexualitaet"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">according</mark></a> to <em>Katolsche.de</em>, “mark a ‘huge difference’ from the attitude towards sexuality that has been practiced in the Church so far”.
In 2020, Bätzing oversaw the Limburg Abuse Report, which claimed “classic Catholic sexual morality was…a risk factor” for the Church – particularly for sexual abuse amongst clerics.
An outspoken reformer, he has also <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253497/germany-synodal-way-batzing-criticizes-pope-francis"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">rebuked</mark></a> Pope Francis’ criticism of the German <em>Synodaler Weg, </em>and has <a href="https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/16508/german-conference-president-criticises-pope-s-leadership-style"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">criticised</mark></a> the Pope’s leadership style.
<em>Photo: Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg leads the Easter Vigil at the Limburger Dom, Cathedral of Limburg, Germany, 3 April 2021. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images.)</em>
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