German Bishops Research Articles

Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Catholic Clergy.

When cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church became known, the German Bishops' Conference (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, DBK) commissioned a study by an interdisciplinary consortium to determine the frequency of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Germany (the MHG study). Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used and the subject matter of the study was analyzed in seven component projects. To determine the frequency of sexual abuse, 38 156 personnel files of Catholic clergy from the period 1946 to 2014 were studied, and the epidemiologic findings of these evaluations are presented. 1670 persons belonging to the Catholic clergy who were accused of sexual abuse of minors were identified from their personnel files, corresponding to 4.4% of the clergy overall. 3677 victims of sexual abuse could be linked to the accused persons; 62.8% of them were male, and 66.7% were under 14 years old when the abuse took place. The mean duration of the abuse in individual cases was 1.3 years. "Hands-on" abuses (i.e., abuses involving bodily contact) occurred in more than 80% of cases. Many of the affected persons suffered serious consequences for their health and social functioning. The ones most commonly reported were anxiety, depression, mistrust, sexual problems, and difficulties with interpersonal contact. The figures reported here should be considered a lower bound to the actual frequency of sexual abuse. Asymmetrical power relationships in a closed system such as the Catholic Church can facilitate sexual abuse. Physicians play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of the victims of sexual abuse, in the diagnosis and treatment of persons inclined to commit abuses and actual abusers, and in the development and implementation of preventive strategies.

Luther's 1519 Unterricht amid the Negotiations with Papal Legate Karl von Miltitz

After his disappointing encounter with the papal legate, Cardinal Cajetan, in Augsburg, Martin Luther returned to Wittenberg on 31 October 1518, facing an insecure and uncertain future. While he continued to preach in the town church, to teach at the university, and to work on reforming its curriculum, he wrote and published his Proceedings at Augsburg and his appeal to a future council. A condemnation from Rome seemed imminent. He seriously considered leaving Wittenberg, until he received notice from Prince Frederick in the beginning of December that he should stay. It was in this atmosphere that Luther encountered the papal legate Karl von Miltitz in the beginning of January 1519, which led to a fragile reconciliation with Rome. The agreement was silent on the matter of indulgences; transferred Luther's case from Rome to a German bishop; and contained a tract, the Unterricht, on the importance of unity with the church of Rome. The contents of this agreement and the resulting tract merit a detailed analysis in order to gain a better understanding of Luther's attitude and beliefs at the time. This understanding furthermore is significant for the contemporary ecumenical perspective on Martin Luther.

“Disrupted ecclesial internationality”

The Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift (International Church Journal: IKZ) was founded in 1893 under the name Revue Internationale de Theologie as an academic Old Catholic journal with a focus on the “reunion of the churches” as proposed by Dollinger, drawing on Old Catholic, early church principles. With the outbreak of the First World War, the journal, which was active in both belligerent and neutral countries, came under pressure. The IKZ, which was published in Bern, in neutral Switzerland, committed itself to a position of strict neutrality; this policy, combined with the tireless striving of the editor-in-chief Adolf Kury to draw in theologians and potential subscribers in neutral countries, not only made possible the continued existence of the IKZ through the war, but led also to the deepening of the journal’s ecclesiastical ideal and the strengthening of its ecumenical profile, and allowed the IKZ to become integrated into the Faith and Order movement established in 1910. The IKZ became the most important European source of information about the Faith and Order movement; it also provided a link between the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht at a time when other church fora and structures could no longer function. The bishops’ wartime pastoral letters played a similar linking role, and many of these were discussed in the IKZ in 1917. The German bishop Moog’s pastoral letters corresponded to some of the usual patterns of interpretation of the war, but they did not further the war; those of the Swiss bishop Herzog were were in a good sense exercises in apologetics for Christianity as a cultural power that could not be easily destroyed by the war. Both bishops sought to foster communion.

Justifying Soil Protection and Sustainable Soil Management: Creation-Ethical, Legal and Economic Considerations

Fertile soils form an important basis for survival for humans, but also for animals, plants and ecosystems, on which all terrestrial organisms rely. Soil is not only of central importance to the global provision of food and in the fight against hunger; climate, biological diversity and water bodies are also highly dependent on soil quality. Soil conservation is therefore a decisive factor in the survival of humanity. Pope Francis also emphasized this in his encyclical “Laudato si’”. However, increasing pressure is being exerted on soils, which poses an enormous challenge to the international community and thus also to the church. Against this background, in this article, which is based on a Memorandum of the German Bishops’ Working Group on Ecological Issues, arguments and justifications for soil protection and sustainable soil management are developed from different angles—from a creation-ethical, a legal, and an economic perspective. All three perspectives point in the same direction, namely that in the use of soils public interests that serve the society and the environment should be given priority over private interests. These arguments may serve as an important reference point in political and societal debates about soils, and may support strategies for sustainable soil management.

Die Methodistenkirche im »Dritten Reich«

Summary The Methodist Church was not able to establish itself on German soil until the middle of the 19th century. The Free Church’s attitude toward the National Socialist state in the early years of the Third Reich was largely the result of previous negative experiences, especially with the state and the national church. In 1933, the ›Nationale Erhebung‹ [National Uprising] raised expectations for Hitler’s ›positive Christianity‹, in which the Methodists saw a new opportunity for missionary activity. – The Methodist Church leadership took the threat of ecclesiastical ›Gleichschaltung‹ [enforced conformity] very seriously. German-Christian slogans and the events surrounding the intended Reich Church led the Methodists – also at the level of the Association of Protestant Free Churches (VEF) – into discussions with exponents of the Reich Church about ways of unifying the Free Church, in order to oppose integration of the Free Churches into the Reich Church. The Reich Church authorities were mainly concerned with the ›Aufklärungsarbeit‹ [educational work] favouring the Reich, which was to be carried out abroad by the Methodist side. In the wake of the ideological and statutory adjustment, the German Methodists gave their church a new legal basis. With the formation of the German Central Conference and the election of a German bishop in 1936, the path to national independence was consistently pursued within the framework of the overall Church, independent of Reich Church claims and removed from confessional church groups. The Methodist Church remained within the confines of the Nazi way of thinking, for the very reason that it lacked effective theological work. In conduct conforming to the state, the Methodist Church leadership’s rhetoric and activities were oriented to the absolute Hitler state. Free Church concessions, which often caused a wearisome struggle in the communities, were manifested in such areas as the preaching service, in silence over the Jewish question, in the Free Church Nazi propaganda at the 1937 World Church Conference in Oxford and in the Methodist press. Well before the outbreak of war in 1939, the Methodists – like other Germans – were not able to form even a remotely objective picture of true events; they only listened to and read what German propaganda served. Although the Methodist Church was in a position to save itself by way of the Third Reich, it proceeded on a path to theological, religious and ecclesiastical decline as a result of its moral failure, fear, opportunism and lack of faith.

How Active is the Catholic Church in the Prevention of Sexual Abuse? Preliminary Results of the MHG-Study

A subproject of the study "Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons in the authority of the German Bishops' conference" deals with aspects of prevention. Structured questions were used to record objective data on preventive work. The questionnaire was completed in all 27 dioceses of Germany. The average hourly rate available for the work of the prevention officers is about 30 hours per week. At the end of 2014, 59 % of clerics were involved in preventive training. The temporal extent of prevention training differs greatly between individual dioceses. The Catholic Church of Germany has undertaken extensive efforts to implement a comprehensive prevention work to avoid sexual abuse of minors within catholic institutions. However, there are considerable differences between the individual dioceses.

Sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions : Aliterature review.

Sexual violence against children remains aglobal public health problem. The health sector has an opportunity and responsibility to be part of the multisector collaboration to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of minors. The following article presents acritical analysis of hitherto published empirical studies that examine the extent and variety of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions. The analysis consists of 40studies concerning the Catholic Church and 13studies concerning other institutions not belonging to the Catholic Church. We report the characteristics of the offenders and the offenses. Furthermore, the devastating consequences for children abused by members of powerful institutions are discussed. Knowledge on the role of institutions in sexual abuse of minors and psychological distress following these experiences is necessary to point the way to improvements in prevention and intervention strategies. This literature review is part of alarger research project on the sexual abuse of minors in the context of the Catholic Church in Germany (MHG Study) that is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, and sociologists and is funded by the German Bishops' Conference.

Bishops Who Live Like Princes: Bishop Tebartz-van Elst and the Challenge of Defining Corruption

This article contributes to the debate on defining corruption. Rather than attempting to provide a definitive definition, it uses the case of Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, a German bishop from the diocese of Limburg who stepped down in 2014, to illustrate that the disciplines of law, political science, economics, and anthropology all make important contributions to understanding what corruption is and how it should be conceptualized. Seen through these different lenses, the article argues, the case of “Bishop Bling” can be understood in strikingly different ways. This has ramifications not just for the case itself but also for how analysts understand corruption more broadly. Adopting an overtly interdisciplinary approach does not represent a way to “solve” the definitional dilemma, but it can help analysts understand more about corruption’s multiplicity.

Przebaczenie i pojednanie pomiędzy Polakami i Niemcami jako dar i zadanie. W 50 lat po wymianie listów biskupów polskich i niemieckich

The article shows the importance of “The Message of the Polish bishops to their German brothers in Christ's pastoral office” (November, 18 1965) in the history of Polish-German reconciliation. This Message contained the famed phrase “we forgive and ask for forgiveness” directed, at the conclusion of Vatican II, to the German bishops by representatives of the people, who were the victim of World War II. This phrase, over the past fifty years, had become a source of some confusions first, but, eventually, it brought to the peoples and to the believers of Churches living in Poland and Germany blessed fruits, which were the foundations for further Polish-German relations. It is therefore not strange that this Message of Polish bishops is now considered by many historians as the most important document of the postwar period.The article, in its four parts, reveals religious themes, efforts and activities of Polish bishops which aimed at deepening the sense of forgiveness and reconciliation in the midst of shaping the attitudes of the faithful living in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. The decisive event in this respect - apart from Vatican II – was the celebration of 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland, celebrated at Jasna Gora in Czestochowa on 3th May 1966, under the leadership of the Primate of Poland Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski. Further sections of the article show a long and laborious process of ripening of the forgiveness in the dimension of community and society. This process is illustrated by other - this time common - documents Polish and German bishops issued on the occasion of the 30th (1995) and 40th anniversary (2005) of first “Message”, and recently culminated with a solemn celebration of Polish and German bishops in Czestochowa, on November, 22 2015 and completed by the first joint Message of Polish and German Presidents. The process of rapprochement, dialogue and reconciliation, which began with a collective act of forgiveness has led to far-reaching political changes, lasting peace in Poland and much of Europe. Presented in the article's Messages and their impact on Polish and German societies clearly show that there is no peace without justice, but – as well – there is no justice without forgiveness.

Renewing the Church as a Community of Hope: The German Catholic Church Confronts the Shoah

Introduction A spirit of hope and renewal characterizes recent Catholic theology, reawakened and energized by the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the new leadership of Pope Francis. After the council, national Catholic conferences convened extend the renewal movement, though some of these movements attracted little attention beyond their country of origin. One of the forgotten treasures of the post-Vatican II Church is a document focused on hope and renewal, Our Hope: A Confession of Faith for This Time (Unsere Hoffnung: Ein Bekenntnis zum Glauben in dieser Zeit). Promulgated in November, 1975, by the Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany and drafted by fundamental theologian Johann Baptist Metz, Our Hope is the first official document from the Catholic Church in Germany address the history of Nazi Germany and the Shoah. (1) In the post -Shoah context of the document, Our Hope asks whether the heart of the Church's teaching--the focus on Christ's suffering and the cross--has also taught indifference the suffering of others, especially the Jewish people. (2) But, as the Vatican started slowing down or resisting the reform movements soon after the close of the council, Our Hope and Metz were seen as moving the Church and theology in the wrong direction. Under the leadership of Pope Francis, such resistance seems be lifting, and renewal is beginning again. Working in a spirit of hope in God, the synod engaged serious self-examination, critique, repentance, and change. These first steps by the West German Church produced some genuine theological recentering in light of the Shoah. In this new time of renewal, and in view of the fortieth anniversary of Our Hope, I argue that these theological revisions should not be resisted or neglected as harmful the Church; rather, they should be reintroduced the living witness of the Church and experienced now--as they were then--as bearers of new hope and new meaning in the life of the Church. Vatican II met barely two decades after the end of World War II. world was still reeling from the suffering and death of the war, just beginning confront the extent of the atrocities committed against the Jewish people in the Shoah, and just starting worry about the conflict growing in Vietnam. Confronting this context, in Gaudium et Spes (the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) the Church identified itself as a community so deeply connected humankind and human history that participating in the modern world embodies--not endangers--the meaning of Christian life. Church's solidarity with the world calls it take up The and hopes, the grief and of the people of our time, especially those who are poor or afflicted (no.1), in order to save and not judge, serve and not be served (no. 3). (3) For the Catholic Church in West Germany, responding the call of Gaudium et Spes meant confronting the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the modern world from within the country where National Socialism took root and where the war and its atrocities began. Our Hope is still remembered by the Catholic Church in Germany. When the German bishops spoke out again about the Shoah on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camps in Opportunity Re-examine Relationships with the Jews (1995), they quoted extensively from the central witness and self-critique of the Church in Our Hope (4)--but the work of the Church remember and reflect theologically on the Shoah still has a long way go. passing years should be used increase prayerful reflection on this history, not forget it. Metz and the synod argued that we become more human by remembering (and more inhuman by forgetting) the suffering and death of others. (5) Our Hope certainly had a central and enduring effect on the development of Metz's theology. …

Wehrmacht Priests: Catholicism and the Nazi War of Annihilation by Lauren Faulkner Rossi (review)

Wehrmacht Priests: Catholicism and the Nazi War of Annihilation. By Lauren Faulkner Rossi. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 2015. Pp. xii, 336. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-674-59848-5.)Military chaplains serve two masters: God and the state. Not infrequently conflicts arise between the loyalties demanded by each, especially in times of war. This was particularly the case in Nazi Germany, whose rulers launched a criminal onslaught that brought devastation and death to millions of victims, especially in Eastern Europe. Lauren Faulkner Rossi's scholarly analysis of the experience of the Catholic priests who were conscripted to serve in the German army or Wehrmacht is highly illuminating of the dilemmas they faced and the compromises they made. This examination of the role of the Catholic clergy in the German armed forces is a pioneering study, which takes us beyond the earlier account by Kevin Spicer, Hitler's Priests (DeKalb, IL, 2008), which was concerned only with the handful of bigoted and fractious clerical devotees to National Socialism. Rossi, by contrast, seeks to study the behavior of the several thousand Catholic priests or future priests, who were recruited from the diocesan clergy, the seminarians, and even the older students of Catholic theological schools. This is the first comprehensive study in English and is marked by a determined commitment not to follow the defensive and apologetic stance adopted by so many Catholic historians in Germany over the past seven decades.When Hitler took power in 1933 he supported the re-established military chaplaincy for three reasons: first, because religion to him was a critical element in cultivating loyalty and motivating soldiers; second, the chaplaincy was a means of control over the troops, and third, it was a vehicle for imputing nationalistic loyalties for the sake of enhancing Germany's historic civilization. The Vatican was also intensely interested in the future of the Catholic militar}'' chaplaincy. The Reich Concordat between the Holy See and the new Nazi government that was signed in July 1933 contained explicit directions for the future governance of this chaplaincy. It made this service directly responsible to the pope and gave the chaplains independence from any guidance or authority from the local German bishops. It also included a secret clause for the possible reintroduction of military conscription whereby Catholic clergy would be directed to the pastoral care of the troops or else drafted into the army's medical service.This agreement cleared the way for the appointment of the Catholic field bishop, Franz Justus Rarkowski who, although not a Nazi Part}'' member, was known as an ardent supporter of the chief planks of Nazi ideology-particularly the restoration of Germany's greatness, the strident opposition to Bolshevism, and the drive to enhance German racial purity that included its antisemitic component. Rarkowski's appointment was, however, opposed by several of the diocesan German bishops who felt he lacked the necessary academic qualifications for episcopal rank. …

Problem wystąpienia z Kościoła katolickiego w Republice Federalnej Niemiec

The introduction of a clause of formal act of defection from the Catholic Church to Code of Canon Law, explained by the Ponti cal Council for Legislative Texts in 2006 and then abolished by pope Benedict XVI in 2009 , was of no signi cance for the legal regulation in force in German Federal Republic. As a result of historical circumstances existing in this country, the only way to formally defect from the Catholic Church is still Kirchenaustritt declared at a state authority, which is – as stated in 2006 by the country’s Episcopal Conference of German Federal Republic – a crime tantamount to schism, for which the prescribed penalty is excommunication latae sen- tentiae . However, an essential novum occurred in the General Decree of Episcopal Conference of German Federal Republic from 2012 : the mention of excommunication was omitted (declaring its incurrence became depen- dent on the assessment of the act Kirchenaustritt : whether it constituted an act of schism, heresy or apostasy). is modi cation should be regarded as positive, just like Pastoral Letter ( Pastorales Schreiben ) developed by the German Bishops and attached to the General Decree. It is necessary to emphasize that the problem of assessment – on canon law basis – of statement of defection from the Catholic Church as the only way to exempt from the church tax, is still open to dispute (inter alia ger- man milieu).

Xenotransplantation from the perspective of moral theology.

Current medical research in the area of xenotransplantation is driven by the aim to save human lives and to improve the quality of life of those suffering from organ insufficiencies. This study reflects the therapeutic intent of xenotransplantation from a theological-ethical perspective. Regarding statements of Christian communities, the analysis focuses mainly on catholic documents. This study takes into account the document on Prospects for Xenotransplantation by the Pontifical Academy for Life as well as a position paper on xenotransplantation released as a collaboration between the German Bishops Conference (Catholic) and the Evangelical Church in Germany (Protestant). Documents of other Christian denominations will be discussed in a separate paper. Aspects concerning the areas of medicine, social ethics and animal ethics are considered as well as biographical, psychosocial, culture-bound and ideological preconditions of acceptability. These aspects also include consequences for the construction of personal identity. With regard to an anthropocentrism that is based theologically and relationally, xenotransplantation--in general--can be viewed as a permissible form of therapy, given that the principles of biomedical ethics will be observed and that animals are treated with respect.

Problematika jmenování a postavení biskupů německé národnosti v českých diecézích pohledem Svatého stolce

An the time of the Habsburg Monarchy, the government in Vienna had a preference for candidates of German nationality for the Archbishop's sees. The situation changed significantly after the year 1918. It was acknowledged by the Holy See that believers of German origin had become a minority in Czech dioceses. They were not an insignificant minority, however, and consequently the Holy See continued to appoint German bishops as well. There was a German suffragan bishop in Prague, and a residential bishop of German nationality in the Diocese of Litomerice. In both cases, acceptance on the part of Czech believers (and government) was an important aspect in the process of choosing the German bishop. While in the Prague archdiocese, it proved appropriate to appoint a German auxiliary bishop (Remiger) for specifically the German believers, in Litoměřice, the appointed German bishop Weber demonstrated that due to his popularity and language skills, the issue of appointing an Auxiliary Bishop of Czech nationality was irrelevant.

Girl Power: The Episcopate and Female Agency in the Central Middle Ages

In 1076, Henry IV, King of Germany (1056-1106), convened a synod of bishops with the intention of denouncing and deposing Pope Gregory VII (1073-85) in response to the latter’s actions after the Lenten Synod of 1075. A majority of the German bishops present, allied with Henry, produced a letter to Gregory in which they renounced the method of his ascension to the papacy, as well as the methods he employed to achieve the reform he sought. In one passage, they particularly renounced Gregory’s well-known close relationships with several powerful women. The complaints of the bishops revolve around the belief that these women exerted an inordinate amount of influence in service of Gregory’s pontificate. They stated, "In this affair, our sense of decency is affected ... although the general complaint is sounded everywhere, that all judgments and all decrees are enacted by women in the Apostolic see, and ultimately that the whole orb of the Church is administered by this new senate of women." While this remonstrance of Gregory’s friendships with women follows the generally misogynist views common during the period, there is evidence that the clergy of the Middle Ages were more aware of the power held by many of the noble laywomen of Europe than they perhaps would have wanted to admit. Evidence to this effect can be found in the many extant letters from high ranking clergymen, primarily bishops and popes, to a variety of noble women, in which these women are regularly called upon to support the Church in many ways. Joan Ferrante found "the letters show that women’s authority, political and intellectual, is recognized by the men who work with them, that women collaborate and cooperate with men in politics, religion, and scholarship as colleagues, that their friendship and support is valued and trusted." What will be examined here are the ways in which several members of the clergy of the eleventh and twelfth centuries not only recognized that women had access to power and influence, but that these bishops commonly worked to access this power for the support of the political agenda of the Church.

The Spanish Bishops and Nazism during the Spanish Civil War

The anticommunist position of the Spanish bishops was unanimous during the Spanish Civil War. Their attitude toward Nazism, however, underwent a gradual evolution, from indifference (1936-37) to concern (1938-39). This change was due, in part, to the sympathy for Germany exhibited by the Spanish Falange and, above all, to the warnings of the Holy See. It did not, however, result in a unanimous and open criticism of the Nazis. The opposition of the bishops was primarily in response to papal documents and warnings from German bishops critical of Nazism's stance against Christianity, leading the bishops to question the compatibility of totalitarian ideas and Catholicism to create the new state that Francisco Franco wanted to build in Spain.

Finding their voices again: a media project offers a floor for vulnerable patients, clients and the socially deprived

‘DU bist Radio’ (DBR) is an award winning [DBR has been awarded with the “Catholic Media Award of the German Bishops Conference, Prädikat WERTvoll” (2011), the Suisse “Media Prize Aargau/Solothurn” (2010), the German “Alternative Media Award” (2009) and was nominated for the “Prix Europa” (2009)] monthly radio format that goes on air on three Swiss radio stations. The purpose of this program which was first broadcast in 2009 is the development of a new media format which—without applying any journalistic (or other) filter and influence—conveys authenticity of expression amongst society’s most vulnerable fellow citizens such as patients, clients and the socially deprived. So-called marginal groups are encouraged to speak for themselves, as a possible paradigm case for encouraging the inclusion of patients’ and relatives’ “unfiltered” voices in general and in clinical ethics as well. Before handing over the microphone to the groups in focus, a team of journalists, educated in medical ethics, over a period of 4 days, teaches them on-site radio skills and craft. Once this task is completed and the actual production of the broadcast begins, the media crew does not exert any influence whatsoever on the content of the 1-h program. Thus, the final product is solely created and accounted for by the media-inexperienced participants, leading to unforeseen and often surprising results. It is discussed that the DBR approach of fostering authenticity of expression can serve as an enhancement to today’s respect and autonomy oriented field of medical ethics.

Friedwaldbestattungen. Kirchenrechtliche Untersuchung einer alternativen Beisetzungsform by Karl Neimes (review)

Reviewed by: Friedwaldbestattungen. Kirchenrechtliche Untersuchung einer alternativen Beisetzungsform by Karl Neimes John M. Huels Friedwaldbestattungen. Kirchenrechtliche Untersuchung einer alternativen Beisetzungsform. Beihefte zum Münsterischen Kommentar 64, by Karl Neimes. Essen: Ludgerus Verlag, 2013. Pp. iii–143. German canonist Karl Neimes investigates in this work the canonical ramifications of the faithful choosing to be buried in woodland areas instead of a cemetery. This is a growing phenomenom in Germany and Switzerland primarily for ecological, economical, and sentimental reasons, as the cremated remains are typically buried under a tree in a bio-degradable container in the expectation that the roots of the tree will draw nourishment from the ashes, and purchasers of the plot can imagine themselves some day sharing in the life of the tree while their loved ones and dogs hike and play in its shadows. Although this may sound odd or amusing to the North American, it may only be a matter of time before the practice catches on here. Originally presented as a licentiate dissertation at the Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster, the work raises and addresses some key questions: Is such a burial permissible in canon law and, if so, under what conditions? Are there circumstances when one could claim a right to have an ecclesiastical funeral service at such a burial? Does canon law even cover this issue? After an introductory chapter, Neimes considers in the second chapter the cultural changes in current cemetery and burial practices and the challenges they pose for the Church and canon law. The third chapter examines the development of the idea of the Friedwald, which is a wooded area used for burial, as well as the arguments of both the proponents and critics of this alternative to the traditional cemetery. Chapter Four is historical, surveying the developments in canon law on the subject of cremation; these occurred mainly in the twentieth century with two Roman instructions in 1926 and 1963 and the three Codes of 1917, 1983, and 1990. In the fifth chapter, Neimes examines recent developments in particular law on this subject. A 2005 document of the German bishop’s conference, taking its clue from the Code (CIC c. 1184, §1, 2º), says that a burial of cremains in the woods would not be permissible if chosen for reasons contrary to the Christian faith, and it cautioned pastors to observe diocesan guidelines. The author then reviews the guidelines [End Page 688] and norms of six German dioceses which took up the issue, and he also assesses their juridic value. These were followed in 2008 by a document of the liturgy commission of the conference which established some principles to assist the remaining dioceses in developing their own policies; the most important of these is that the pastor should be competent to decide, in individual cases and observing certain conditions, whether a minister may be present for liturgical prayer when the ashes are buried in the woods. The sixth chapter offers some conclusions and perspectives for the future. Among them is the recommendation that lay persons be trained for this ministry so that it becomes more feasible for the Church to be present to the mourners in this unusual setting. The significance of this study for canonists worldwide is perhaps not so much the discussion of all the issues involved in this alternative form of burial but the way that the Church in Germany has responded to it: not with prohibitions and condemnations but with a cautious, pastoral sensibility and a reliance on the particular law of dioceses to assist pastors in a changed cultural situation. [End Page 689] John M. Huels Faculty of Canon Law Saint Paul University Ottawa, Ontario Copyright © 2013 The Catholic University of America Press

Resurrection Faith Today

IN 1964, W. Marxsen published a short essay which triggered an intense discussion among German Protestants concerning the understanding of the Resurrection faith. Marxsen's essay soon influenced Catholic theology, and the discussion spread German Catholic circles. In these circumstances the German bishops wrote a letter to all who are commissioned by the Church preach the faith, dated Sept. 22, 1967. letter rejected an extreme interpretation of the Resurrection and stated: The confession of the Resurrection of Jesus as a real event (wirkliches Ereignis) necessarily belongs the Christian faith and cannot be understood as a time-conditioned interpretation of an inner-historical, inner-worldly or inner-human experience, which can at other times be expressed differently. letter of the bishops did not mention any theologian by name. It did not even say that any theologian expressly taught what it rejected. Rather, in a time of confusion, the letter set a limit beyond which the discussion of German Catholics could not go. It did not seek end all discussion of the meaning of the Resurrection faith. What then have the theologians been saying?

The East German State and the Catholic Church, 1945-1989, by Bernd Schaefer.

The East German State and the Catholic Church, 1945-1989, by Bernd Schaefer. Translated by Patricia C. Sutcliffe. Studies in German History series. New York, Berghahn Books, 2010. ix, 303 pp. $90.00 US (cloth). This translation of Bernd Schaefer's first book provides an English-speaking audience overdue access to a genuinely authoritative work of scholarship. The East German State and the Catholic Church analyzes Church-state relations from the founding of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) until its collapse, a topic that suffers neglect in comparison to the voluminous academic literature about western German Catholicism. Besides retaining relevancy almost fifteen years after its initial publication in German, this volume represents a building block for all future research about Catholicism under the East German dictatorship. The book systematically supports one convincing thesis. Schaefer suggests practical approaches by both Church and state ultimately overcame the hostility inherent in the worldviews of Catholics and communists to create a stable, long-term Kirchenpolitik. While the GDR never retreated from its utopian stand that the Party should hasten the end of a superstitious institution destined for irrelevancy, it understood short-term tactical reasons to pursue a conciliatory course. Despite show trials of priests in the late 1950s, the emphasis on Jugendweihe (secular confirmation ceremonies), and a policy of differentiation designed to erode Church unity, the communist dictatorship required Church consent in order to achieve international recognition and receive profits from currency exchanges with western European countries. The Catholic Church opposed Communism as an existential threat and a godless ideology, but it also approached the GDR with expediency rather than open hostility. Eager to retain contact with the Vatican and West German Bishops, hopeful to avoid state repression, and open to the notion of an eastern Heimat, East German Church officials accepted the sovereignty of the communist state and pursued a policy of political abstinence to maintain the status quo. Schaefer's depiction of Alfred Bengsch, Bishop of Berlin and Chairman of the Berlin Conference of Ordinaries (BOK) from 1961 until his death in 1979, forms a pillar in the argument for the primacy of a pragmatic Kirchenpolitik during this era. Preceded by the more outspoken Cardinal Konrad von Preysing and succeeded by the less conciliatory Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Bengsch committed to a fragile balance between accommodation and dissent within the GDR. He pursued political abstention in order to preserve the Church's existence and maintain access to West Berlin and the Federal Republic after the construction of the Berlin Wall (p. 88). His relationship with the Ministry of State Security (MfS) best illustrates this delicate accommodation. Bengsch appointed certain high-ranking officials, such as Prelate Otto Gross, to serve as regular informants for the MfS and maintain productive relationships with the state. However, Bengsch successfully prohibited any other clergy from contact with the state so as to prevent the GDR from dividing Catholics with their policy of differentaiation. Bengsch ultimately lacked sympathy for socialism. In fact, he objected to the Vatican when Rome pursued its own version of Ostpolitik during the 1960s and 1970s in order to leverage the stable Church-state relationship in the GDR into a better situation for Catholics in other Eastern European countries. …