Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Bätzing says Pope Leo is ‘accompanying the Church in Germany with trust’ after meetingGerman Bp. Georg Bätzing, known for pushing female ordination and same-sex ‘blessings,’ commented that the Pope has ‘trust’ in the German church following talks.Bishop Georg Bätzing has said that Pope Leo XIV “accompanies the Church in Germany with trust” after his first private audience with the Roman Pontiff.On September 4, Leo received Bätzing, the head of the German bishops’ conference, in a private audience for the first time since becoming Pope.The Holy See did not comment on the meeting, but Bätzing released the following...

A 600-year-old church in southern Germany drew some 1,200 people to a Taylor Swift-themed worship service on Sunday, local media reported. Heidelberg’s famous Church of the Holy Spirit, originally Catholic and now Protestant, hosted a liturgical service bearing the title “Anti-Hero — Taylor Swift Church Service,” in an effort to attract younger people, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported. “The Church of the Holy Spirit has always been a place of encounter and exchange,” said Heidelberg Pastor Christof Ellsiepen. “That’s why a pop-music religious service fits so perfectly. With it, we are giving space to the questions and issues that occupy the...