Posted on 07/13/2004 1:07:31 PM PDT by CatherineSiena
Germany’s leading conservative cardinal has bitterly criticised Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the Archbishop of Mainz, for allowing dissident theologians to express their views at last month’s annual Katholikentag conference.
Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, criticised Lehmann, who is the president of the German bishops’ conference, in a hard-hitting article for the Cologne diocesan newspaper. Cardinal Meisner accused Lehmann of liberalism and excessive doctrinal tolerance, which he claims was manifested at the conference in Ulm. Meisner is forming a group of conservative priests and lay people together to denounce liberalism in the German Church.
He disagreed with Cardinal Lehmann and the chairman of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Hans Joachim Meyer, that it had largely been a harmonious meeting. Meyer organised the Katholikentag.
Cardinal Meisner criticised the invitation to the conference of Eugen Drewermann, a theologian suspended from the active priesthood in 1992 for his views on church hierarchy and teaching. “Does not [his] appearance in Ulm add to the disorientation? Can that no longer be criticised?” Meisner asked. He went on to criticise also the appearance at the conference of Bishop Jacques Gaillot, who was dismissed from the diocese of Evreux, France, in 1995 for opposing official church positions on issues such as celibacy, women priests and use of condoms to prevent Aids. Gaillot had, said Cardinal Meisner, “called, to applause, for a new kind of priesthood, independent of gender and only for a limited time”.
This led him to ask: “Does unorthodoxy predestine a person to be invited to the Katholikentag?”
Meisner also attacked Lehmann for his silence during a discussion at the conference with the Swiss theologian Hans Küng, whose licence to teach was revoked by the Vatican in 1979. At the conference Küng called on Lehmann to persuade enough cardinals at the next conclave to vote for a “Pope John XXIV” to carry out much needed church reforms (The Tablet, 26 June).
“Hans Küng, known for his attacks on and aversion to the Holy Father, who is treasured all over the world, was able in Ulm on a high level to release his theses,” wrote Meisner. “He, whose teaching authority has been withdrawn by the Magisterium, was offered here the chance of being fêted by Catholics as a theological authority. His closing remarks, that Cardinal Lehmann should ensure that a Pope John XXIV be elected next, expresses more than clearly Küng’s low estimation of Pope John Paul II. That Cardinal Lehmann, who has been called into the College of Cardinals by this Pope, found no answer, makes you think.”
The cardinal went on: “It seems that the Katholikentag has lost its centre – the Church in which Jesus Christ is present.”
It is not the first time that Meisner has criticised Lehmann. The Kirchentag, the first ecumenical church assembly organised by Lehmann in Berlin in May 2003, prompted Meisner to complain of “disorientation” and “confusion of belief”.
In late June, Meisner led a number of German bishops, including those of Regensburg, Eichstaett and Speyer as well as Archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg in setting up an initiative of traditionalist priests and lay people to discuss the form of future conferences.
Somebody actualy let Hans Kung speak at a church event????
Oh, my.
I have a friend who is an Episcopalian priest - and as liberal as the day is long - who is a devotee of Hans Kung. Anybody this guy likes is bound to be trouble to orthodoxy.
This is all very strange, but at least the arguments are out in the open more than they used to be.
I've never thought Lehmann was genuinely "conservative." Perhaps he is conservative in the German sense, which seems to be pretty broad. Also, I believe he covered up for or protected some priests (and possibly a fellow bishop) who were involved in a homosexual/youth molestation scandal a few years back. At least Kasper the not-so-friendly Ghost is honest about being a raving liberal.
Conservative in the German sense. Now that is a riot:)
"It is not the first time that Meisner has criticised Lehmann. The Kirchentag, the first ecumenical church assembly organised by Lehmann in Berlin in May 2003, prompted Meisner to complain of “disorientation” and “confusion of belief”."
Remember Lehmann is the guy who ignored several papal admonitions to discontinue aiding German women to abort their babies. Given the liberal heretics currently crowding the sacred college of cardinals (the likes of Meisner aside), there is every chance that Lehmann could be the next pope. Heaven forbid that Kung's wish for a Pope John XXIV becomes reality.
Gaillot had, said Cardinal Meisner, “called, to applause, for a new kind of priesthood, independent of gender and only for a limited time”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.