1. DOCUMENT
Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken (Central Committee of the German Catholics)
Saturday, May 9, 2015
To Build Bridges between Teaching and the Reality of Life – Family and Church in the World of Today
Plenary Assembly on May 8 and 9, 2015 in Würzburg [Germany]
Declaration of the Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken (Central Committee of the German Catholics) in preparation for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican [October] 2015
The Central Committee of the German Catholics (ZdK) [Rorate note: the oldest, main and most influential group of German Catholics, founded under a different name in 1848 and responsible for the famous Katholikentage, Catholic Days] welcomes the call of Pope Francis to all the faithful to make a statement about the situation of the family in the Church and in the world of today. The world-wide reactions to this call will have to be put together during the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the fall of 2015. The ZdK is aware of the universal Church's understanding of the context for the discussion of the topic and pays special attention to its own regional considerations.
With the following four central messages, the ZdK would like to make a contribution to the debate, in light of the preparation of the consultations for the XIV General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops; it would thus like to invite a discussion about its following statements and to seek allies for the upcoming challenges.
1) We regard the sacramental marriage as the model for a life-long bond as a promise for a successful life with the help of God. We confess this to be the model of life and we encourage couples to make such a marital promise and to found a family. At the same time, we respect other forms of cohabitation in which important values are realized: reliable responsibility for one another; fidelity in that relationship; and a commitment to walk together the path [sic].
2) As a church in the world, the ZdK works in a special way for a strengthening and for a promotion of marriage and the family in our society and in the state. By family, we mean also the different non-marital forms of reliably lived partnerships and of generational responsibility which make a large contribution to the societal solidarity and which ought to be treated justly.
3) The Church's teaching has to be further developed with the help of a dialogue with the faithful, and with an attentiveness to their respective life realities. As a church which is attentive to men, their sorrows and hopes, we are called to engage with confidence the given society of today with all its manifold, socially accepted forms of living, and to become ourselves bridge-builders between practice and teaching.
4) In our church [in Germany], we support a strong pastoral care for marriage and the family, which needs, locally, a convincing personal offer [of specific and special care], also in changing pastoral structures.
In detail, this means that:
In other forms of communal living, as well, there are to be found values which signify a marriage as a covenant between God and men: an unbreakable [sic] “yes” to the other person, the constant readiness to reconcile, as well as the perspective upon a fruitful relationship in exchanging the gifts of different persons.
These forms of living and family [also] have to be honored, even if they are not to be found in the form of the sacramental marriage. We think here of enduring partnerships [cohabitation], civil marriages, as well as civilly registered partnerships [i.e., homosexual unions].