Contentious German church reform assembly opens last meeting

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Catholic bishops and lay representatives have gathered for the final meeting of a potentially groundbreaking reform assembly that has been marked by tensions between liberalizers and conservatives. It’s also drawing increasingly open opposition from the Vatican. The German process, dubbed the “Synodal Path,” was launched in 2019 in response to the sex abuse crisis that has rocked the church. The synodal assembly, meeting in Frankfurt from Thursday through Saturday, brings together more than 200 representatives of Catholic life in Germany. Its fifth and final gathering is expected to discuss proposals that include blessings by priests for same-sex couples, female deacons and a role for the faithful in choosing bishops.