Well, not exactly, but in so many words.
From his press conference in the airplane returning to Rome from Lebanon:
[Question:] The Church in Lebanon is supported also by the German Church. There are, for example, some German aid agencies very active in Lebanon. So from that point of view, it is important that the German Church has to be strong. So you probably know, that there is this Synodal Way, we call it Synodaler Weg, a process of change in the German Church going on. Do you think this process can be a way to strengthen the Church in Germany? Or is it the other way around? And why? [Anna Giordano - German ARD Radio]
[Pope Leo XIV:] The Synodal Way is not unique to Germany, the whole Church has celebrated a synod and synodality over the past several years. There are some great similarities but there are also some marked differences between how the Synodaler Weg in Germany has been carried forward and how it may well continue in the universal Church.
On the one hand, I would say there is room certainly for respect for inculturation. The fact that in one place synodality is lived in a certain way and in another place it is lived differently does not mean that there will be rupture or a fracture. I think that is very important to remember.
At the same time, I am aware that many Catholics in Germany believe that certain aspects of the Synodal Way that has been celebrated in Germany up until now, do not represent their own hope for the Church or their own way of living the Church.
So there is need for further dialogue and listening within Germany itself, so that no one’s voice is excluded, so that the voice of those who are more powerful does not silence or stifle the voice of those who might also be very numerous but don’t have a place to speak up and to allow their own voices and own expressions of Church participation to be listened to. [emphasis added]
At the same time, as you know, I am sure, the group of German bishops has been meeting, for the last couple of years, with a group of the cardinals from the Roman Curia. There is an ongoing process there as well, to try and make sure the German Synodal Way does not, if you will, break away from what needs to be considered as the pathway of the universal Church. [emphasis added]
I’m sure that will continue. I suspect there will be some adjustments made on both sides in Germany but I’m certainly hopefully that things will work out positively.
