A group of laypeople has founded the association Pro Fide Ecclesiae, in Germany, a new movement that seeks to give voice to Catholics who do not feel represented by the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) or heard by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK). According to Kath.net, the initiative was established last Sunday in Offenbach am Main and counts among its founding members the emeritus bishop of Chur, Marian Eleganti, one of the most critical voices regarding the German Synodal Way.
The promoters of the association maintain that there is a broad sector of “conservative in values” faithful who remain loyal to the Church’s magisterium and who have been excluded from ecclesial debate in Germany. Although they assert that these Catholics are not a minority in the parishes, they denounce that they have become practically invisible in official dialogue and media coverage.
A lay movement in defense of the magisterium
Pro Fide Ecclesiae defines itself canonically as a lay movement, inspired by the conciliar decree Apostolicam Actuositatem on the apostolate of the laity, although it is also open to priests and other members of the clergy.
Its main objective is to strengthen the Catholic faith and promote firm adherence to the Church’s magisterium, as well as to establish links with other associations of the faithful that share the same orientation.
Among the founders is Bishop Marian Eleganti, who summarized the purpose of the initiative with a forceful statement: “We want to defend the faith against heretical interpretations and falsifications”.
Criticism of the Synodal Way and the Katholikentag
The president of the new association, lawyer Thommy Schott, stated that the recent Katholikentag held in Würzburg showed the extent to which many faithful have come to identify certain proposals of the so-called “rainbow world” with the Catholic faith.
Schott attributed this confusion both to the language used by some ecclesial leaders and to the way part of the media has covered the issue. “The expressions coined by the promoters of the reforms have contributed to these errors, just as the press, which increasingly fails to fulfill its duty to inform and instead conveys a particular position,” he said.
The lawyer expressly rejected some of the main demands defended in the German Synodal Way. “We believe that the abolition of celibacy, the ordination of women, and a sexual morality contrary to Sacred Scripture do not represent a different way of being Catholic; they simply are not Catholic,” he declared.
“A fracture in Germany affects the whole Church”
The promoters of Pro Fide Ecclesiae consider that the course taken by part of the Church in Germany has caused a deep sense of alienation among numerous faithful.
In this context, Schott warned that a schism in Germany would have consequences for the entire Church. “A division of the Church in Germany is a division of the universal Church, because we are one,” he noted.
For this reason, the new movement aims to offer an alternative to those who wish to remain faithful to the doctrine and magisterium of the Church. “We will show that the faith of our fathers is the true faith,” its president stated, inviting laypeople and clergy to join the initiative through collaboration or membership.