German Catholics Divided

Pope Benedict XVI threw the Catholic Church in Germany into turmoil when he lifted the excommunication of the bishops from The Society of St. Pius X .  For many, Catholics, this signaled a retreat from the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and from the movement towards more openness in the Church and dialogue with other faiths. For the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) completely rejects Vatican II as well as any dialogue with other faiths. Basically, SSPX is a deeply anti-Semitic sect that has been a haven for Holocaust deniers. The SSPX members reject all democratic institutions and long for a return of Vichy France.

Last week the German Catholic BIshops conferenced in Hamburg, and there was some hope that they would criticize Benedict for his apparent zeal to undo the Vatican II reforms.  As the Tagesspiegel reports, these hopes were not realized:

Die Einheit der Kirche ist wichtig, das ist das Signal. Diese Einheit ist wichtiger als der Vertrauensverlust bei den eigenen Leuten und in der Welt. Es wird zwar die entstandene „Unsicherheit“ über den Weg der Kirche bedauert. Aber an der Verunsicherung seien nicht etwa die Kirchenoberen schuld, sondern die anderen, die eben nicht genau hinhören, was der Papst sagt. (Church unity is important: that is what they signaled.  Unity is more important than the lost of trust from the people and in the world. Yes, they express some regret for the 'uncertainty' concerning the path of the Church.  But the Church leaders are not to blame for this uncertainty. Rather it is fault of those who are not listening closely to what the pope says.)

The rebellion from below in Germany is being led by Wir sind Kirche (We are the Church), a group of lay Catholics who want the German Roman Catholic Church to play a positive role in a modern, democratic society. In response to the German bishop's conference they released the following petition (English - German):

We believe that the close correlation between the excommunication’s cancellation and the 50th anniversary of the calling of a General Council of the Church by Blessed Pope John XXIII gives a clear indication of the direction which the present Papacy wishes to take.  We sense a desire to return to a pre Vatican II Church with its fear of openness to the breath of the Holy Spirit, a positive appreciation of ‘the signs of the times’,  and the values of democratic institutions.

We are very concerned that this act of rehabilitation heralds a turn-around on important documents of Vatican II, for example, the decree on ecumenism “Unitatis Redintegratio”, the declaration on non-Christian religions “Nostra Aetate”, the declaration on religious liberty “Dignitatis Humanae” and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, “Gaudium et Spes”. Such an act will have a disastrous effect on the credibility of the Roman-Catholic Church.  For Catholics who love their Church, the price is too high!

But there are other Catholics in Germany who embrace the SSPX, and would like Church to follow their model.  The Web site Kreuz.net mocks the German bishops and even criticizes Pope Benedict XVI for "buckling under to the Jews". The editors of this site are outraged at the pseudoreligiöse Holocaust-Konzept, the heresy which replaces Christ with Auschwitz as the central ontological axis of the West:

Der nationalsozialistischen Vernichtungslager seien eine Art „Golgatha des 20. Jahrhundert“, bei dem die „Kreuzigung von sechs Millionen“ geschehen und die Heilserwartung von Christi Erlösungstod implizit auf die Juden übertragen werde. (The Nazi death camps are considered to be a kind of "Golgatha of the 20th Century", where the "crucifixion of 6 million" took place and the promise of salvation through Christ's redemptive death is implicitly transferred to the Jews.)

The SSPX revives the notion that the Jews were (and are still today) guilty of Deicide. The fact that this reactionary brand of Catholicism is being welcomed back into Church is very disturbing indeed. The Bishop Williamson controversy was just the beginning.