Schweiz
Swiss bishops to advocate in Rome for women, divorcees, and LGBTQ people
The Swiss Bishops’ Conference has announced that it will advocate in Rome for «better inclusion of all baptized people.» Specifically, it will focus on participation among women, remarried divorcees, and LGBTQ people.
Raphael Rauch, kath.ch
The Bishops’ Conference made the announcement on Tuesday, following the national synodal assembly in Einsiedeln. Fifty Catholics from all over Switzerland had met there on Monday, exchanging views on the results of the synodal process in German, French, and Italian. At the diocesan level, the bishops posed various questions to the faithful, including asking who did not feel heard in the Church.
Young people often don’t feel heard
From the Swiss bishops’ point of view, the responses highlighted two topics in particular. The first is the issue of «promoting the full participation of all baptized people in the life of the Church.» Women, remarried divorcees, and LGBTQ people feel especially excluded. But young people and people with a migratory background also often feel that the Church is not listening to them.
The second topic is the critique of clericalism. «Synodality can only succeed when clerical attitudes are overcome and when we develop an understanding of priestly ministry that is conducive to a synodal church,» the Swiss Bishops’ Conference announced. According to the bishops, clericalism comes in for particularly heavy criticism in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland.
The report will be will be taken up at the World Synod in the autumn of 2023
The bishops announced that not only would they bring the results of the synodal process to the World Synod, but they would also continue to work on these thematic areas in Switzerland – both at the national level and in individual dioceses.
In the coming weeks, the dogmatic theologian Eva-Maria Faber and the exegete Philippe Hugo will edit the final national report, which will then be sent to Rome. Bishops at the European level will discuss it, and it will also be a topic of discussion at the World Synod in the autumn of 2023.
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