Overview
- The four‑day gathering in Würzburg ended Sunday with Bishop Heiner Wilmer urging bold church work for peace as he cited humanitarian crises like Sudan.
- The statute for a planned Synodalkonferenz, a forum where bishops and lay leaders would make decisions together, is under review in Rome, which has already derailed a hoped‑for first session in November.
- ZdK president Irme Stetter‑Karp warned that a veto from the Vatican would be catastrophic for Germany’s local church.
- AfD office‑holders were not invited to official events, while bishops and lay leaders said the church must still engage AfD voters since no one can be barred from parish life for how they vote.
- Reformers pressed issues such as women’s ordination, priestly celibacy and stronger lay authority rooted in the abuse scandal’s loss of trust, and visiting Cardinal Mario Grech offered no concrete signal on the German plan.