Free Republic

German Cardinal Kurt Koch has become the focal point of a frightening new chapter in the German Synodal Way. Last week, the Cardinal criticised the German Synodal Way, by expressing his dismay that some German Catholics were once again forcing the church to submit to the political spirit of the age, as they did during the Nazi era. Many critics of the Synod understood what Koch meant, but Radical Synodalists were outraged and expressed this anger through threats of violence against Koch in sinister emails. Koch was quoted last week as saying: "in addition to the sources of revelation of...

What is truth? How can it be found and how does freedom relate to truth? Is there one truth and several? These questions are essential for human beings, because man's deepest longing is directed towards the knowledge of truth, explains Cardinal Kurt Cardinal Koch, here in conversation with the Tagespost. Eminence, dear Cardinal, this symposium of the Ratzinger Circle is above all about truth. This has always been a special concern of the theologian, Joseph Ratzinger and of Pope Benedict. His whole theology seems to be like a red thread the search for the real truth, and his work was...

A top cardinal at the Vatican has confirmed Pope Francis’ apprehension about Germany’s “Synodal Path,” telling EWTN in an exclusive interview that critics have raised “legitimate concerns” about the controversial re-assessment of Church teaching on sexual morality and other critical issues. "I very much hope that the German bishops will not simply defend themselves but really enter into a dialogue. Because there are legitimate concerns behind this that have to be taken seriously,” Cardinal Kurt Koch said Thursday. The Swiss cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, spoke to EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser for the EWTN...

Vatican Asks Bishops to Invite Local Protestant and Orthodox Leaders to Participate in Synodal PathOffering “some practical suggestions to ensure the ecumenical dimension of the synodal journey,” the cardinals encouraged bishops to reach out to leaders of other Christian communities in their area.VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has issued a letter asking Catholic bishops to invite local Orthodox and Protestant leaders to participate in the diocesan stage of the two-year process leading to the 2023 Synod on Synodality. Cardinal Mario Grech, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for...

Cardinal Koch Doubts That Anglican Orders Are Null And VoidThe Vatican released on December 4 a handbook for bishops on ecumenism which claims that ecumenism is not an optional “but a duty and obligation.”Catholics are warned against a “polemical presentations of Christian history and theology” [read: offering historical and theological facts].At the handbook’s presentation, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, called for a “better interpretation” of the Catholic teaching that Anglican orders are “null and void”, claiming that this issue “needs to be studied.”"Null and void" refers to Leo XIII's bull Apostolicae Curae...

[Catholic Caucus] German Bishops: Adultery "No Sin"; Homosexuality "Normal", "Unchangeable" During a consultation on "human sexuality," which was part of their "Synodal Way," a group of German bishops discussed on Thursday whether the ban on homosexual fornication and contraception was still “up to date."The bishops Koch (Berlin), Bode (Osnabrück), Ipolt (Görlitz), Kohlgraf (Mainz) as well as several auxiliary bishops took part in the meeting.According to a 5 December press release, the so-called bishops concluded that homosexuality was one of the "normal forms of sexual predisposition" and that homosexuality is "not changeable" through socialisation, "nor does it have to be changed."With...