A Catholic bishop has criticised leaders of Germany’s “Synodal Way” for delaying a debate on gender-neutral language.
In a Jan. 7 open letter, Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg accused organizers of failing to keep a promise to hold a discussion at the Synodal Way’s next plenary session in February.
“I protest against this approach. Once again, the disregards a request from the members of the Synodal Assembly,” the bishop said.
The debate centres on a proposal to use the so-called “gender star” in Synodal Way documents. The linguistic innovation, which dates to around 2013, places an asterisk after the stem of a German noun, rendering it neither masculine nor feminine.
