Fellow German Christians criticize pope before trip
Canada Goose Jackets BERLIN (Reuters) When Pope Benedict visits his native Canada Goose Outlet Germany later this week, canada goose coats the anarchists, gays and radicals planning to protest against his presence should be the least of his worries. Canada Goose Jackets
Canada Goose Outlet Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leads the Sunday angelus prayer from the balcony of his summer residence in Castelgandolfo in southern Rome September 18, 2011. REUTERS/Tony Gentile Canada Goose Outlet
cheap Canada Goose Religion in Germany cheap canada goose uk has a public edge the Bavarian pope doesn canada goose black friday sale often see, with politicians and Protestants as likely as Catholic parishioners to speak out against his conservative ideas. cheap Canada Goose
canada goose clearance A record canadian goose jacket 181,000 left the Catholic Church canada goose uk black friday last year in protest against its sexual abuse scandals and increasingly conservative line. For the first time, that was more than those quitting German Protestant congregations and even topped the total number of new baptisms buy canada goose jacket cheap into the Catholic Church. canada goose clearance
Among those who have stayed, many say the Church should reform its celibacy rule to counter the dwindling number of priests Canada Goose Coats On Sale and allow Protestants married to Catholics to receive communion at Mass with their spouses.
Catholic theologian Hermann Haering told Reuters it was no surprise that Benedict should elicit such criticism in his native land.
Canada Goose sale of all, he German, he said. both for and against him have always been very canada goose store strong. Canada Goose sale
Canada Goose online a country where Catholics and Protestant populations Canada Goose sale are of equal size, all theological and church issues are much more clearly defined. Canada Goose online
canada goose black friday sale don cheap Canada Goose have a liberal tradition, Canada Goose Jackets such as in the United States. These issues are not seen in the framework of a civil society. canada goose black friday sale
canada goose coats on sale DEGREES OF DISSENT Even if they remain silent, some senior Catholic politicians due to meet Benedict in Berlin symbolize the uk canada goose outlet gulf between them and the lifestyle the pontiff preaches. canada goose coats on sale
canada goose clearance sale President Christian Wulff is a Catholic who has divorced canada goose coats on sale and canada goose clearance remarried. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit is Catholic and openly gay. The Church says both lifestyles are sinful. canada goose clearance sale
Bundestag Speaker Norbert Lammert joined seven other Catholic politicians in January in urging Benedict to ordain married canada goose clearance sale men, but the pope has ruled out any change in the Church centuries old rule of celibacy for the clergy.
Even Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Protestant, has fired shots across Benedict bow. When the pope readmitted a Holocaust denying bishop into the Church in 2009, she called on him canada goose factory sale to make it clear the Vatican was not anti Semitic.
Canada Goose Parka Last weekend, Merkel said ecumenical cooperation should be a main theme of Benedict visit. In canada goose outlet chicago the land of Martin uk canada goose Luther and the 16th century Reformation, most media attention on the visit focuses on issues affecting Catholics and Protestants. Canada Goose Parka
She stressed the need to promote peace among religions, a remark that raised eyebrows because the pope last German Canada Goose online visit in 2006 was followed by furious Muslim protests at his speech in
Regensburg referring to Islam as a violent and irrational faith.
canada goose coats REFORM CALLS In a recent survey for the Bertelsmann Foundation, only 37 percent of the Catholics and 14 percent Canada Goose Online of Protestants polled thought what the pope said during his trip would be important. canada goose coats
buy canada goose jacket cheap Nearly three quarters of Catholics polled wanted the Church to liberalize and only 13 percent supported the return of traditions fostered by Benedict. buy canada goose jacket cheap
canada goose Catholics and Protestants agree to almost the same degree 45 and 43 percent https://www.canadagooseoutletcoats.com that his visit should improve relations between their churches. canada goose
This parity means one of the strongest reform demands is permission for joint eucharistic services, which Protestants allow but the Vatican bans because of different views on what the ceremony means.
canada goose store Another demand is to buy canada goose jacket allow communion Canada Goose Parka for Catholics who are divorced canada goose uk outlet and remarried, like President Wulff. The Church bans this because it only recognizes the canada goose uk shop first marriage and therefore considers the second one a sin. canada goose store
buy canada goose jacket Even Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, 73, head of the German Bishops Conference, recently said he hoped to see some change on this point within his lifetime. buy canada goose jacket
Other reform calls heard in Germany for decades urge an end to obligatory celibacy for priests, permission for women to become priests and an option for older laymen to be ordained. Benedict has firmly rejected all of these canada goose and shows no sign of changing.
canada goose deals Haering said the scandal of sexual abuse of young people by priests, which has shaken Germany and other countries over the past two years, had plunged the Church into worst crisis since the Reformation. canada goose deals
canadian goose jacket But with so many other long standing demands competing for attention, the abuse scandals focus less public attention here than they would if the pope visited Ireland or Belgium, where the issue dominates any discussion of the Church and its role canadian goose jacket.
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