Bisscof Ackemann

The most important question is Corpus Christi 2023. (Dr. Farkasch was there)

No calls in the press, a maximum of 20 Christians, at least the employees and other volunteers could

see I believe and confess

that I am Catholic

und das ist mein Herr

Jesus the Anointed Messiah

Vielleicht deswegen

Pope Francis received the Bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann, on Saturday. As usual, the Vatican did not provide any information about the content of the audience. In the traditional diocese of Trier - Germany's oldest diocese - a pastoral reform is pending.

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14/10/2021

D: “Compromise that many can live with”

24/07/2020

Pfarreireform: Andere Länder, andere Prioritäten

Allerdings hatte der Vatikan die von Ackermann vorgelegten Pläne im November 2019 nach Widerstand aus den betroffenen Gemeinden auf Eis gelegt und Nachbesserungen verlangt. Ursprünglich sollten aufgrund des Priestermangels die 900 Trierer Pfarreien zu 35 Großpfarreien zusammengefasst werden.

In October, Ackermann said that a compromise had now been found "that many people can live with." Instead of "consciously taking a big step in order to benefit from it for as long as possible," as originally planned, things are now moving "more slowly."

Bishop Ackermann is also the long-standing abuse commissioner of the German Bishops' Conference. At the most recent meeting of the Catholic Church's "Synodal Path", he spoke about what the German bishops have done to address sexual violence in the church since the presentation of the German Bishops' Conference's abuse study (MHG study) in September 2018.

(vatican news/kna – gs

Result

Not even a proper pious funeral procession could be organized.

de ursprüngliche Plan

      Der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann 

CHURCH

Bishop Ackermann announces 35 pastoral spaces

Der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann hat im Zuge der Pfarreienreform im Bistum die Errichtung von 16 Pastoralen Räumen zum 1. Januar bekanntgegeben. Die Diözese sei damit an einem „Meilenstein“, an dem die Pfarreienreform sich konkretisiere, sagte Ackermann am Mittwoch in einer vom Bistum veröffentlichten Videobotschaft.

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15/05/2021

D: Bishop Ackermann wishes for “more curiosity about others”

In pastoral spaces, parishes and church communities are to merge to form new, larger units. A further 19 planned pastoral spaces will be built by January 1, 2023, Ackermann announced.

He came to this decision after the conclusion of the exploratory phase, which lasted from February to the end of June. The exploratory phase showed a dynamic and a noticeable willingness to change, said the bishop. Many people spoke out in favor of building the pastoral areas quickly.

But he also takes critical objections and requests for more information and more time very seriously. Nowhere has there been 100 percent agreement. That is why the decision that has now been made will probably disappoint people again. But if you want to be "a more missionary, diaconal and synodal church," this is "the right way," Ackermann said with conviction.

A few weeks ago, Ackermann announced that 13 of the 172 parish communities in the diocese wanted to merge into one parish on January 1, 2022. Talks about a merger are already planned with another eight associations. The communities each include several of the diocese's approximately 900 parishes.

Different structures next to each other

The merger of parishes is a central part of the reform plans in the Diocese of Trier. In February, Bishop Stephan Ackermann described the changed reform plans in a letter to all Catholics in the diocese (“post-synodal letter”) and called on the parishes to merge into larger units to form a new parish by 2025.

The parishes will continue to be led by a priest. In addition, 35 larger units are to be created, so-called pastoral areas. Here, too, a priest will be at the head of a management team. By 2025, various structures are expected to exist side by side: small and already merged larger parishes, deaneries and pastoral areas.

Massive resistance to large parishes

The structural changes are based on a diocesan synod (2013-2016) that recommended creating "wide pastoral spaces". The aim of the reform is to reorganize pastoral care and church life in view of the shortage of priests, decreasing church ties and falling income, and to gain more freedom.

Initially, the diocese wanted to implement a concept with 35 large parishes with management teams made up of priests and lay people. There was sometimes massive resistance to this. After complaints from priests and Catholics in the diocese, the Vatican stopped the reform in November 2019 and demanded changes.

The 35 pastoral areas now planned are largely identical in terms of their respective area to the 35 large parishes originally planned. The difference is this: In a large parish there is a responsible leader or a management team. A pastoral area, on the other hand, consists of several parishes that are independent under canon law, each of which has its own leader: a pastor or a mixed management team led by a pastor.

Das Modell einer Pfarrei-Leitung durch Laien ist unabhängig von der Grösse der Einheiten durch den römischen Bescheid verboten. 

(kna-skr