Dr Martha Heizer, We Are Church - Austria, watched Cardinal Grech's greeting at the closing service of the German Catholic Congress on television. And it got her thinking.
I missed the German Catholic Congress 2026 due to illness. What a shame! But I did follow some of the events through the media, and when the closing service was celebrated in Würzburg, I was at least able to watch it on television. Cardinal Mario Grech was also there – live and in person. With him, a representative of the Vatican was officially present at the German Catholic Congress for the first time. I was pleased about that – and then quite taken aback when he read his message of greeting!
According to the transcript, Cardinal Grech said: "We are truly gifted with the ministry of the bishop for the local Church and the Petrine ministry for the whole Church — ministries that can guarantee that we are fulfilling God's will."
Well, I was startled because I didn't hear a small but important word: "can." And in the context of this sentence, it changes everything; it's about nothing less than the discrepancy between possibility and reality. Was this "can" missing? Was it omitted? Was it inserted into the speech later? Or did I simply not listen closely enough?
In any case, this statement immediately brought to mind the Austrian bishops around Cardinal Innitzer and their appeal to all believers to vote for the annexation of Austria to the German Reich in the 1938 plebiscite, as well as certain episcopal appointments in the 1980s (Kurt Krenn, Hans Hermann Groër, etc.). Following these bishops—which many did—would therefore have meant fulfilling God's will? Really? But even today: What haven't we already witnessed in terms of abuse of power, cover-ups of abuse, ignorance towards the disadvantaged, arrogance, and self-aggrandizement?
And then Cardinal Grech stands there and claims, generally and categorically, that we are "blessed with the office of bishop"! No, it's not that simple: While leadership is certainly important and a bishopric can indeed bring blessings, it also always requires oversight. And that is hardly provided for in our current church system. And that damages the office of bishop—and also the blessing it could actually bring.
I am glad that many people have abandoned automatic obedience and always consult their conscience first before simply following "the bishop" or "the Petrine ministry." What most guarantees that we follow God's will is the "sensus fidelium," the sense of faith of the entire People of God. And even then, we should not disregard conscience. This is ancient Catholic teaching. Please study it again in Rome!
Photo (© Martha Heizer): Bishops at the European Continental Assembly of the World Synod in Prague 2023
Reproduced with permission from the German on the We Are Church - Austria website