Old Catholic Bishop Matthias Ring Says Some Roman Catholics Are Leaving Over Abuse Cases

The Old Catholic Church in Germany sees a growing number of Roman Catholic Christians leaving their church in some regions. Old Catholic bishop Matthias Ring, 59, told the Bonner “General-Anzeiger” on Friday: “For many, dealing with abuse cases has caused the barrel to overflow.”

Ring said many people feel that nothing will change in the Roman Catholic Church. Recently, he said, more people have also come to the Old Catholic Church from the core of their previous Roman Catholic congregations, where they had been active, for example, as lecturers or on the parish council.

Ring said he views the development in the Roman Catholic Church with concern. He added that the current wave of withdrawals has not spread to the smaller Old Catholic Church, but that “the loss of reputation, which the church as a whole is suffering quite massively in society at the moment, of course affects us too.”

According to Ring, the Old Catholic Church has about 15,000 members nationwide. He said people find the church attractive for several reasons, including that it is democratically structured and allows women to become priests. Many also value direct contact with their pastors. “The manageability is a reason for many to join an old Catholic congregation,” the bishop said.

The Old Catholic churches arose in the 19th century through separations from the Roman Catholic Church. The split was a protest against central decisions of the First Vatican Council (1869/70), where papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals was proclaimed and the supreme authority of the Pope in the Church was established. Old Catholics reject both the papal infallibility defined by the Council and the so-called primacy of jurisdiction, and they wanted to abandon the new dogma, which they saw as a break with older traditions of faith.

The Old Catholics in Germany are organized in one diocese, with its bishop’s seat in Bonn. Anja Goller, the first general vicar of the Old Catholic Church in Germany, does not consider a “reunion” with the Catholic Church to be desirable. “A union is certainly not the goal,” she said.

Abuse cases have also affected other churches. A report commissioned by the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands criticizes the “passive” attitude of that church’s leadership in abuse cases in the Netherlands, a matter of accountability for those in authority (Luke 12:48).

With a history of less than 150 years, the Old Catholics are a comparatively young movement. Nevertheless, Ring said in an interview, they do not want to be regarded as mere “newerers.”

Source: Read the original report (translated from German)