"Rise, Peter, and fulfil this pastoral office divinely entrusted to you,” exclaimed Pope Leo X in 1520 in the face of the errors of Martin Luther. It was, he lamented, particularly saddening that such error should have arisen in Germany, when its people are so naturally “germane to the Catholic faith”. As the present author has elsewhere observed, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since that time.
There is perhaps less surprise today to hear problematic theological assertions coming from beyond the Alps. Nevertheless, the scale of the problem has provoked consternation, even among countrymen of the German bishops themselves. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was less than amused to be informed of the decision of the German bishops, as part of their Synodal Path, to endorse the blessing of homosexual unions.
