SANCTIFYING OFFICE

Liturgy as Source of Vocation

Jean-Claude Hollerich grew up surrounded by Catholic culture. His parents “were not completely against faith and the Church, but they were not very interested in it.”¹Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.13 It was the experience of the liturgy (then still in the traditional form) and religion class in school, taught by a “strict but kind” priest, that brought him into a life of faith: “Already as a child I was particularly drawn to Holy Mass. Before my First Communion I already became an altar server, and that for me was the first step toward the priesthood.” He added: “Ten years old I experienced a holy hour at a children’s day of prayer. When I looked at the monstrance, I felt the great love of God. (…) The thought took hold: I will become a priest.”²Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.15

Turning Point

While he experienced the liturgical life of his youth as a home, it was a home he suddenly lost with his arrival in the Jesuit community of Tokyo. Among the international group of Jesuits everyone had to speak Japanese, so there was little communication and, he felt, no community. Daily Mass, too, was in Japanese and he recalls feeling bereft: “I was used to a piety with processions, devotions and hymns – and suddenly it was all gone. I felt as if I had been robbed of my faith.”³Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.34

It seems as if he decided then that his attachments to the “old” liturgical life were a hindrance. There runs an almost iconoclast thread through his statements where the old, the traditional, is a “façade” or worse, is what hinders access to the “real.”

Zen Meditations

Zen meditations for six hours that made his legs go numb, led by Jesuit Zen Master Kadowaki, taught him that “religiosity can be an obstacle to making progress in religion.”⁴Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.47 “The Buddha you imagine may prevent you getting closer to the real Buddha. And often the Religion that I imagine, the invented religion I have come up with, prevents me from getting to the Source of Life, to God.”⁵ Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.47 He is convinced that “sometimes it is even the Church with her traditions that hinders me from being a follower of Christ.”⁶Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.101

Liturgy of Personal Preference

About the liturgically–vibrant Catholicism of his childhood he now thinks: “Looking back, it was a world with many cracks, with only the façade still standing. But for me, the Catholic life of that time did me good.” The emphasis on the personal while denying that there is anything “better” (or worse) is central to Hollerich’s liturgical practice and thought: “As a bishop, what I want is for each person to have respect for Communion and respect for each other in the different ways of taking Communion, [acknowledging] that no way is better than the other one but that there are personal pieties. If they help people, they should keep them.”

During Covid, Hollerich devised a procedure to receive Communion where pieces of cloth were used to handle the consecrated hosts and afterwards were then placed into a basket to be washed. He was appalled that some (he assumed those who normally receive Communion on the tongue) would rather not receive Communion than use this method. The loss of Eucharistic particles did not seem to cross his mind, declaring that “the way to receive Communion had become more important than Communion itself,” which, in his view “reduces it to a personal form of piety: me and my Jesus. It takes a lot of imagination to read that into the Gospel.”⁷Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p. 117

“Certain rites and certain human habits are not the mystery. The mystery is Jesus Christ himself, his giving himself to us, which happens in the sacraments. Whether I say it in Latin or in Japanese is not part of the mystery.”⁸Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.135 However, this statement is misleading since the vernacular of the liturgy, translated from the original Latin, is not what makes it “a certain rite,” and so shows that Hollerich emphasizes the spirit of the liturgy over its precise form.

He occasionally signals personal appreciation for Latin, but would not use it in a pastoral setting: “I like the Latin Mass, I find the texts very beautiful, especially the first canon. When I celebrate Mass in the chapel at my home, I sometimes choose a Latin prayer. But in a parish I wouldn’t do that. I know that the people don’t understand Latin and wouldn’t get anything out of it.”⁹Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.135 Owing to its international community, Luxembourg offers Mass in over twenty different languages and some of the Masses use three or more languages during the same celebration.

“There is room for diversity in the Church, I even experience that diversity in myself: sometimes I like to celebrate Mass in Latin, another time I like to join in with the dancing during the Church Service.”¹⁰Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.81 Hollerich tolerates a whole range of liturgical practices in his diocese and he himself made waves when, to the tunes of a band playing at a confirmation, he initiated a line dance with the recently confirmed. “I experienced this as something deeply religious,” he recalled.¹¹Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.95

The Traditional Mass

But he has a clear line he will not cross: “I would not celebrate in the old rite,” and continues: “As a cardinal I would have to wear the cappa magna, (…) I would be embarrassed to death. What would Christ say? Is that how you imagine following me? Gliding along, wrapped in purple? I told you that who loves me, let him take up his cross and follow me, and not: take up your purple train. I would have the impression that I am betraying Christ.”¹²Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.135, N.B.: The cappa magna is a ceremonial garment, not a liturgical vestment and need not be worn to celebrate Mass in the tridentine Rite.

This explanation is striking for two reasons. First, because he mistakes the cappa magna for a liturgical vestment, when it is only a ceremonial garment, not necessary for celebrating Mass. Second, because it is the longest citation of the words of Christ in a book interview that he gave in 2022. In conclusion, he concedes that that “does not mean that other people are not able to do it in a good way, but I cannot.” He does, in fact allow the Tridentine Mass to be celebrated in his diocese on weekdays, even in the Cathedral.

Sanctifying Office Controversies

Prayerful celebrations for divorced Catholics who civilly remarry have been practiced in Luxemburg for decades and have also taken place under Hollerich.¹³The reference is to the practice in the diocese in 2013.

During the Sacrament of Penance, he said he shows homosexuals that he “leaves them their own free will. They have to decide about their life, not me. If they have found a partner, a relationship that lasts, I am happy for them.”¹⁴Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.121

Marian Devotion

Cardinal Hollerich appreciates the deep roots of Marian devotion in his home country and has tried to keep the traditions surrounding it alive. The famous octave celebrations before the Feast of the Assumption and the St Willibrord procession of Echternach are devotional and cultural events Hollerich supports with enthusiasm, even protesting an infringement of religious rights when schools would not give days off for students to attend.

TEACHING OFFICE

Cardinal Hollerich has not produced any theological writings, and his ideas need to be pieced together from a flurry of interviews with journalists that have become particularly frequent since his role as general relator of the Synod on Synodality. His most substantial interview was for a 2022 book, published simultaneously in French and German.

Christ and the Holy Spirit

Hollerich’s most direct profession of belief in Christ is: “I fully subscribe to the opening of the letter to the Hebrews.”¹⁵Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.79 This is strangely indirect and he immediately qualifies: “but God is also present elsewhere.”¹⁶Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt,” Freiburg 2022, p.79 In fact, mentions of Jesus Christ are otherwise infrequent: one of the few times that he explicitly refers to the words of Christ in his book interview is Matthew 16:24 — “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” — when he articulates his feelings about the cappa magna as a betrayal of Christ.¹⁷Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p. 135

A criticism of some of the new directions in the Church is that since the words of Jesus in Scripture pose problems for some of the new directions in the Church, a divide-and-conquer approach to the Trinity becomes helpful, claiming inspiration from the Holy Spirit for innovations that cannot be backed up with the words and deeds of Christ: “The Holy Spirit opens our minds and our hearts to new positions.”

Indeed, Hollerich has noted with approval that there is a “continuous objection of the Orthodox Christians that we as Catholics are too Christocentric.” The remedy to this is to emphasize the Holy Spirit, and Hollerich does so frequently in his speeches and interviews, always in the context of the new horizons being opened up by “listening” and “searching for God in the world.”

Thanks to the “discernment” under Pope Francis, “the action of the Holy Spirit becomes more important in the Church, bringing us closer to our Orthodox brothers and sisters.” “It is the Holy Spirit who makes the charisma and the hierarchy come together – in the person of Peter’s successor. That is why I am sure if the Pope points in a direction, it is the direction the Church must take. And the Pope pointed in the synodal direction.”

The operation of the Holy Spirit then may be seen primarily in two places: in the person of Pope Francis and in the “people of God” when they find “God in the world.”

Searching for God Present in Our World

The theme of “searching for God in the world” is a constant in Hollerich’s comments.  It defined his mission in Japan, where he felt he could “not just go and preach the Gospel” but instead he decided to look for where “God was already present in Japan.”¹⁸Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.34 It is also how he defines his episcopal mission: “My task as a bishop is to help my people understand where God is present in our world.” He is convinced that this search in the world will lead to “renewal” in the Church: “We need to live in our present time and see God present in our culture. That’s where we’ll find the signs to renew our Church.”

The Catholic Church Alone Does Not Have All the Answers

The first step is to recognize that “the Catholic Church alone” does not have “all the answers,” Hollerich says. “You cannot come with the pretension that the Catholic Church alone has the answer to all the possible problems. We must become humble, learn from the others, dialogue with the others, and always look for the presence of God in our world.”

Such an approach seems to be something of a strawman, since traditionally when there have been new questions, the Church has looked for answers by deepening its understanding of Revelation.

If what Hollerich means is that the Church does not have all the possible answers necessary for salvation, what is left out of the picture is that this Revelation is Christ. As the Catechism notes: “Christ is the definitive Word of God and in Christ God has spoken everything He wishes to communicate to humanity.”

Hollerich, by contrast, seems to suggest that not being open to new revelation “in our world,” including in other religions, amounts to a denial that God can act in history: “Sometimes we tend to become atheists in the Catholic Church: We see God at the origin of our religion, but we do not want to let him act in history anymore.”

Other Religions

Hollerich recounts where he encountered God in Japan: “First I found God in the beauty of the temples. I was fascinated with the smile of the Buddha. A smile that signifies true peace.”¹⁹Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.36-7 “The beauty of the great Buddha, that was perfect harmony for me. He rests in himself and emanates an incredible peace. There I thought: here God is present.”  “In Buddhism?” the interviewer asks, and Hollerich answers: “yes!”.

Ecumenism

For Hollerich, the “people of God” that are meant to serve as sources of revelation of the Holy Spirit must include also the separated churches: “All of the baptized are adoptive brothers and sisters of Christ. Therefore, the Holy Spirit undoubtedly speaks through them. This is our discernment material, and we cannot abstract from it just because we may not like it.” Asked whether he really means all the baptized, he insists: “Yes, I do not just aim at Catholics, but at all of the baptized.”

Real Presence and Intercommunion

“In Tokyo I gave Communion to each of those who came to Mass. I have never denied Communion to anyone. I took it for granted that a Protestant, if he comes for Communion, knows what Catholics mean by Communion, at least as much as other Catholics who attend Mass do. But I would not concelebrate with an Evangelical pastor. (…) One time I was present at one of their Lord’s suppers and was horrified when the rest of the wine was thrown away, as well as the leftover bread. This was a severe shock for me, because as a Catholic I believe in the Real Presence.”

Ordination Without Indelible Character

With regard to his understanding of the priesthood, Hollerich seems to be more in line with the theological tenets of German Lutheranism that emphasizes the “priesthood of all believers” while rejecting “sacerdotalism”: They have ordained ministers but not a notion of “ontological difference” of the priest receiving an indelible spiritual character in ordination that lasts for eternity and allows him to act “in persona Christi.” This “in persona Christi” aspect and Christ’s maleness is an obstacle to women priests.

Hollerich underlines “there is no ministerial priesthood without a universal priesthood of Christians, because it originates from this.” While of course baptism is the sacrament of initiation and in that sense foundational, presenting one as built directly on the other skirts around the institution of the priesthood at the Last Supper, which, since only male apostles were present, is an obstacle to women’s ordination. In the same context, Hollerich seems to deny that priestly ordination confers an “indelible spiritual character”²⁰CCC 1583 that remains for eternity. He views as problematic “a priestly formation that still rests on an ‘ontological diversity’ that does not exist. Theologians must get to work on this and provide more certain definitions around the theme of character and sacramental grace.”

Pragmatic Approach

On ordination and celibacy Hollerich takes a pragmatic approach: his argument for making celibacy optional is that “otherwise soon we will not have any more priests.” His argument for women’s ordination to the deaconate and even priesthood is that “if they feel discriminated, we must listen.

The only theological concept he introduces in this context is the universal priesthood that belongs to “all the baptized and confirmed.” “The first problem is not whether women should become priests or not, but first of all whether women have a true stake in the priesthood that belongs to all the baptized and confirmed people of God and whether in this way they could exercise the authority associated with it. Would this also mean a homily at Mass? I would say yes.”

Women’s Ordination: Teaching Can Be Changed

Asked in 2024 whether the teaching that priestly ordination is reserved to men alone and is “infallible doctrine,” the cardinal answered in contradiction to Pope St. John Paul II: “It can be changed. It needs arguments and time.”

Papal Power

Cardinal Hollerich seems to have an understanding of papal power that endows the present Pope with all magisterial authority irrespective of the statements of his predecessors, both immediate and distant. In the context of the issue of homosexuality, Hollerich seems to suggest that the present Pope is limited neither by Scripture nor by the doctrinal consensus of his predecessors, but rather that it is entirely up to him to decide whether an existing doctrine can be changed: “The way the Pope has spoken about this issue indicates that there can be a change in the doctrine,” he said in a 2022 interview.

Blessing Same-Sex Unions

Hollerich voiced his support in favor of blessing same-sex unions — not only same-sex couples — after the 2021 Responsum of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. The Responsum had clarified that such unions cannot be “objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God” and thus “blessing same-sex unions would be inconsistent with the nature and purpose of blessings in the Church’s understanding.”

When the Belgian bishops’ conference decided to support such blessings, Hollerich voiced his approval: “Pope Francis often recalls the need for theology to be able to originate and develop from human experience, and not remain the fruit of academic elaboration alone,” he said.

Hollerich said the blessing of a same-sex union intends to bless “what is good in the relationship,” comparing them to sacramental marriage: “There also is sin in marriages, and yet we bless marriage.”²¹“Kardinal Hollerich – der kommende Papst?”, Rheintoday.de 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyltzaeUkdU, at min. 20.30 He added, that while sacramental marriage in the Church is reserved to heterosexual partners “because they can procreate” this “does not mean that the unions of homosexuals are not blessed by God.”²² Kardinal Hollerich – der kommende Papst?”, Rheintoday.de 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyltzaeUkdU, at min. 21.50

Sex Outside Marriage

With regard to sex and the sanctity of marriage Cardinal Hollerich claims that “we are trapped in a bourgeois morality of the nineteenth century, which is not a biblical morality (…) In the villages of Europe people only married when the woman had become pregnant.”

“No one in the Church [at that time] would have thought to say that this is not to be done. That is a new teaching, that is not the old Catholic tradition. It is the fruit of the bourgeoisized Religion of Middle Europe.”

This, according to Hollerich, is “knowledge that has not yet arrived in Catholic circles.”

It is in fact difficult to find sources for Hollerich’s unusual claims since even critics of Catholic sexual moral teaching seem to accept that both the Old and New Testament have a clear understanding of “fornication,” that the epistles of Paul, the Early Church from earliest apostolic times and the Church Fathers all held up chastity and the sanctity of marriage, and that its great theologians from Augustine to Aquinas all doubled down on marriage as the one and only sanctified place for sexual intercourse.

Contraception

Although he tells couples that the number of children should not be determined by a “wrong egoism” of the parents, he adds that a bishop should “not go so far as to set rules.” Beyond that he finds that “the concept of nature” in Humanae Vitae to be “problematic.” He adds: “Well, we know now that the pill is not the best thing for women. But in medicine there are always side-effect and yet no one would call medicine unnatural.”

Hollerich appears to misunderstand Humanae Vitae’s teaching on artificial contraception. The encyclical proposes that the purpose of sex is procreation, with pleasure and intimacy being additional blessings meant to strengthen the marital bond. What makes contraception “unnatural” is separating the unitive from the procreative aspect of the sexual act. Anything “problematic” regarding this “concept of nature” can only concern the claim of inseparability, and once the two aspects are separable there is no reason why any kind of non-procreative sex should be less “natural” than any other.

Homosexuality

On the topic of homosexuality Hollerich offers a two-pronged approach, referring to both scientific and biblical claims that are meant to explain why the Church’s teaching is “wrong.”

“I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct. What used to be condemned was sodomy. Back then, it was thought that the whole child was preserved in the man’s sperm. And this was simply transferred to homosexual men. But there is no homosexuality in the New Testament. There is only mention of homosexual acts, some of which were pagan acts of worship. That was of course forbidden. I think it’s time we fundamentally revise doctrine.”

Sin and Group Exclusion

Reframing sin as a cause for exclusion, Hollerich insists: “Everyone is called. No one is excluded: even the divorced who remarried, even homosexuals, everyone. (…) Sometimes in the Church there are discussions on these groups’ accessibility to the Kingdom of God. And this creates the perception of the exclusion of part of the People of God. They feel they are excluded, and this is not just!”

This sets up a false problem since there is no question about whether “everyone is called” to enter the Kingdom of God by baptism, accepting Christ as King and embracing his teachings. Rather it is grave sin that causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom if one does not repent (CCC 1861). By questioning whether fornication and homosexual acts are gravely sinful and combining that with whether the Church should “deny access” to a group, Hollerich casts the problem in terms that obscure the core issue: that sin severs the relationship of an individual with God and there is no such thing as group redemption. 

Abortion and Assisted Suicide

There are two issues on which Hollerich is unequivocal: abortion and assisted suicide. “How can you be a Christian and favor the right to abortion? I cannot understand that.” Although he adds that “abortion will not be stopped by the official positions of the Church” and “if the Church appears to isolate the abortion issue, it will hurt its position.”

During the 2024 papal visit to Luxembourg, the cardinal caused uproar in the press when he called abortion “barbaric,” even in cases of incest or rape. He is equally adamant about assisted suicide being wrong and calls it an “atrocity” that “the truth is twisted by the law” when it is no longer described as “suicide.”²³Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.85

End of Christianity

To underline the need for change, Hollerich repeatedly projects a future of doom and extinction for Christianity. He already claims that “we no longer announce the Gospel” and “we have a theology that no one will understand in twenty or thirty years. This civilization will have passed.” He has stated: “We will no longer have Christian Europe, but hopefully a small, lively Church in Europe.”

There is a strong sense of presentism to his thought: no moment in history is comparable. “My generation has lived, and is living, changes that no one has experienced before. I would say the greatest since the invention of the wheel. (…)There will be very, very big anthropological transformations. (…) Our pastoral action speaks to a man who no longer exists.”

He is adamant that there is only one way to avoid this decline and it is “the entry into a perpetual aggiornamento,” of changing and adapting, opened up by Pope Francis.²⁴Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt,” Freiburg 2022, p.53

GOVERNING OFFICE

Jean-Claude Hollerich was appointed archbishop of Luxembourg in 2011 after almost two decades in various administrative and teaching roles at the Jesuit university in Tokyo, with pastoral experience at the Catholic Center of the University and in the expat community.

In Tokyo his experience was of a socially uncontentious Catholicism that enjoyed “a very high status in Japanese society.”²⁵Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.49

Since Catholics make up only 0.3% of Japanese society, the Church’s positions on moral and social issues were not relevant to public debate. In Luxembourg, by contrast, when Hollerich was born, Catholics made up over 95% of society. Now their number is dwindling.

A Synodal Diocese

The Catholics of Luxembourg had been guided by a succession of bishops on a synodal journey of renewal and of “opening up towards modern culture and the world.” Immediately following Vatican II the diocese held a diocesan synod lasting twelve years (1969-1981). According to the assessment on the diocesan website, this “had a groundbreaking and awareness-raising effect on the new understanding of a church deeply rooted in society.” As “fruit of the aggiornamento” the diocese mentions “the creation of a whole range of consultative committees,” giving a voice to the “grassroots” and showing “respect for pluralism.”

Hollerich’s predecessor, Archbishop Fernand Franck, held two “wide-ranging diocesan level consultations” in 1997/8, underlining the importance of “real dialogue among the people of God, instead of unsatisfactory navel-gazing.” The responses served as the basis for the discussions of the committees” of the 1999 “diocesan assembly,” launching the pastoral initiative “Church 2005” under the motto: “Welcome — for a listening and inviting Church.”

Despite these processes of listening and restructuring, by the time of Hollerich’s return to his homeland, the Catholic share of the population had dropped by a quarter and would have more than halved had it not been for a steady influx of Portuguese and other Catholic foreign nationals that live and work in Luxembourg.

Asked what he brought from Japan to this new task as diocesan bishop, he answered: “The appreciation of the dialogue with other religions and with the modern world. My most important lesson is: we do not have a monopoly on the truth (…) God is also present elsewhere.”²⁶Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel Steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.79 During Hollerich’s tenure, Catholic numbers have declined further from almost 70% to nearer 40% of the total population. Only 6% of his flock attend Mass on Sundays, many of them foreign nationals, shaped by the Catholicism of their home culture.²⁷Serge Allegrezza, “Net recul des pratiquest religiouses et montée des spiritualités alternatives au Luxembourg”, 2023

2013-15: Overseeing Separation of Church and State

Two years into Hollerich’s tenure a liberal government was elected on the promise of defunding religion, and Hollerich had to negotiate on behalf of the Church.

The new arrangement phased out subsidies for the salaries of the clergy and it relieved municipalities of their financial responsibility for church buildings. The most contested issue was the suppression of religious education in public schools. Seventy-two percent of Luxembourgians wanted to keep the choice between religious and “values” education, as is the norm in most European countries. Despite this, religious instruction in public schools was abolished.

Hollerich spoke of a “disregard for democracy,” but did not galvanize the opposition and the voice of his diocesan media was noticeably muted. Protests and petitions were organized by independent groups. Some of the faithful felt Hollerich had not risen to the occasion. One observer agreed that the Catholic side “quickly gave in to political demands” but added that the “conciliatory attitude may have been induced by the fear of losing everything.”

Interviewed in the immediate aftermath, Hollerich expressed regret that the State has taken away “the right to determine according to which values their children are educated at school” but went on to laud the process for its smoothness: “A path was found that is feasible for all parties involved. We have avoided a Kulturkampf because everyone has moved towards each other.” This, he said, was an opportunity to find new ways of proclaiming the Gospel as a “significantly poorer Church and “in order to find a common path for this,” he would convene a diocesan synod.

That synod never materialized and Cardinal Hollerich soon began to focus his energies on committee work on behalf of the European bishops’ conference and synodal work for the Pope.

New Religious Groups in the Diocese

While Hollerich widened his European circles, the press back home in Luxembourg soon was no longer sure what to make of him. The weekly d’Lëtzebuerger Land that had first noticed approvingly that he was steering a “leftwing liberal” course, later reported the dismay of lay people in the diocese. The laity were saying that despite his progressive pronouncements, the “Buddha bishop” had “opened the door of Luxembourg wide to movements of conservative or even traditionalist sensitivity,” despite the reluctance within his diocese. Does he really “see the future of the church in rightwing conservative groups?” they asked.

In fact, Hollerich leaves little doubt about what he thinks of “hardline conservatives.”

In a January 2023 TV interview he announced with a smile: “Hardline conservatives in general are lacking in intelligence.”²⁸KTO TV, “Entretien avec le cardinal Hollerich, rapporteur général du Synode des évêques”, at min. 3:00 In his book interview he seems to suggest that “they” do not really seek the truth, not even in their faith: “The so-called strict conservative Catholics are themselves a phenomenon of postmodernity. They are not at all interested in a living Tradition, but instead selectively choose set pieces of Catholicism. They feel comfortable in their bubble, their identity is emphasized because everyone there says the same thing.”²⁹(122)

And yet in his diocese he welcomed new communities who seemed to correspond to a conservative profile. First, the Catholic Scouts of Europe who emphasize the importance of regular Mass attendance and confession, and have been accused of “proselytizing.” In 2016 he welcomed two religious communities: Verbum Spei who work in student apostolate and train leaders for the Scouts of Europe, and the Institute Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará (SSVM), who offer religious education for children.³⁰Both the Verbum Spei and the SSVM community live under the shadow of founders that were serial sexual abusers who created a culture of abuse. For Verbum Spei, see: Marie-Laure Lorrand, “Des garde-fous fragiles contre les abus”, 23.11.2021, Reporter. For SSVM see: Michelle la Rosa “Seeing ‘red flags’ – Is there transparency for troubled religious orders?” 29.11.2022. Finally, the charismatic Neocatechumenal Way movement opened an international Seminary in Luxembourg in 2022.

“People have difficulty in categorizing me,” he said. “Some think: ‘he is arch-conservative,’ others think I am ‘terribly liberal.’”

However, welcomed these groups does not necessarily mean he shared their convictions. First of all, by welcoming them he has been able to import what Luxembourg needs and not what the Diocese has been able to produce by itself: a structure to engage young Catholics, new vocations and seminarians. In the past ten years only one priestly ordination grew out of the diocese; all others came from such recently imported groups and communities.

Importantly, religious communities have their own funding structures. Seminaries of the Neocatechumenal Way are under the authority of the local bishop, but the movement has funds and statutes that permit the creation of autonomous diocesan foundations to finance such seminaries. For the diocese of Luxembourg, then, the openness to “conservatives” presents a cost-effective way to manage the decline.

Finances

Since the government’s defunding of the Church, the financial situation of the diocese has become precarious. From 2019 onward it has been in the red, with an operating loss of more than 2.5 million euros per year. Salaries of clergy and others employed by the diocese before 2016 are still paid by the state in a transitional scheme, but new employees will not receive state subsidies. Of its nearly 500 churches only a quarter belonged to the Church, the rest were the property of the municipalities who can now decide whether to deconsecrate them or have the Church sign an agreement and assume the costs for using them. So far (as of 2024) 25 have been deconsecrated, five of them belonging to the diocese. At least 50 more church closures are projected for the near future.

Covid

Missing out on collections when the pandemic hit made the financial situation worse. During the first lockdown, Luxembourg prohibited in-person cultural events including church services from March 2020, with re-openings beginning in April. Hollerich tried to achieve an earlier return, outlining special precautions that would be taken, but received no answer from the government: “I have spoken to bishops from other countries: they were appalled. Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. Evidently this right needs to be weighed up alongside other rights during a pandemic.”

When the second Covid phase arrived in January 2022, in his role as head of the commission representing Europe’s Catholic bishops, Hollerich called for Church services in all of Europe to be accessible only to Covid vaccine passport holders. During the pandemic he had prohibited Communion on the tongue.³¹Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022,p.117

Clergy Sexual Abuse

As of 2022 a total of 60 abuse cases have been processed in the diocese and no accusations of mishandling have been reported. There is no plan to commission an independent investigation. In 2021, after the sexual relationship between a university chaplain and a student became public, concerns were voiced about the decision to entrust the chaplain’s religious community Verbum Spei with pastoral work at the university, since the group has had a history of abuse justified by a “spirituality of friendship,” developed by its abusive founder. According to the auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese, he and Hollerich had been aware of this background, but maintained that no complaint had been lodged and everyone working in pastoral positions as employees of the archdiocese had signed a contract to comply with the rules in force to prevent abuse.

2014-18 President of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions

Even as the crisis over the separation between Church and State was brewing in his diocese, Hollerich in 2014 stood for election for a three-year term as president of the Conference of the European Justice and Peace Commissions, made up of 32 national commissions, addressing complex issues such as poverty, human rights, peace, and environmental concerns.

This meant a significant time commitment and required regular meetings both in Brussels and all over Europe. For Hollerich it also opened the door to the Council of Europe, where the Conference has participatory status.

President of COMECE

From the Justice and Peace Presidency, Hollerich seamlessly transitioned in 2018 to a five-year term as president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), widening his network and again requiring extensive travel to represent COMECE in meetings with various EU institutions.

European Union

For Hollerich the EU is a “model for the world” and its continued existence a moral imperative: “A united Europe is a project of fraternity. The Pope says that if it did not exist, it would have to be invented. It is a model for the world. Nowhere else in the world do nations renounce portions of their sovereignty for a common project. But this project is in grave difficulty today. The transfer of sovereignty is opposed to ‘sovereigntism.’ That is, fraternity is opposed to egotism.”

Migrants

He has, however, criticized the EU strongly for its handling of migration, saying that “refugees pay the price for European indecision and selfishness.” He described the European immigration pact as a “disaster.” While he conceded that Europe cannot welcome all migrants, he underlined that they must always be treated with compassion. When Poland and Lithuania declared a state of emergency over the flow of migrants arriving from Belarus, Hollerich avoided framing the issue in terms of “hybrid warfare” and said that the political instrumentalization of migrants “is like original sin.” Calling for a humanitarian solution, he emphasized that the Church has to take into to account all concerns, “always promoting the common good, locally, universally.”

When asked if prices were rising because of the refugees, Hollerich answered: “Not directly. But they get social housing of the very high standard we have here. I myself would no longer be able to afford such an apartment after I retire. Perhaps it was a mistake to nationalize all refugee aid. If it had been left to the NGOs and churches, help would be less bureaucratic, there would be more sharing and integration would be easier. There is no question that the country’s poorer citizens must be taken into account. But you can’t use their arguments to beat populists in elections. I am amazed to see that in Germany, the Greens and the Left are much more open in this respect than the C (Christian) parties.”

Religious Freedom in Islamic Countries

As the head of COMECE, Hollerich spoke up for persecuted Christians and other minorities in Muslim majority countries, asking EU institutions to make trade agreements contingent on improving religious freedom.

China

With regard to religious freedom in China, Hollerich has made no such suggestions. Asked about the controversial Vatican-China Secret Agreement over the government’s appointment of bishops, he said: “There is no other option. I think the Vatican has no alternative. Neither has the democracy movement in Hongkong.”

Hollerich then pointed to human rights protesters as the reason for further persecutions, hinting at Cardinal Joseph Zen: “When the cardinal of Hongkong loudly protests there is a wave of persecution of Christians in the People’s Republic of China, one has to be very careful what one says, and easily risks lives.”³²Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.61 However, human rights experts have argued that it was the Secret Agreement itself that led to an increase in persecution.

Others say the agreement plays into China’s strategy of undermining international human rights standards through coalition-building on the outside and increased control on the inside, where restrictions, such as banning under 18-year-olds from Church, have been increasingly enforced.

Bishops and priests are asked to undersign the principles of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which in his famous letter to Chinese Catholics, Pope Benedict confirmed was incompatible with an authentic Catholic understanding of the Church. By now signaling doctrinal flexibility, critics say the agreement creates confusion and plays into the government strategy of phasing out religion through a process of “Sinicization” that aims at a “comprehensive reshaping of religions,”  hollowing out their core values while leaving the shell in place.

Critics also say the Vatican’s top-down secret deal with the government effectively also reframes the sacrifice of China’s persecuted faithful who resisted impositions of the state that went against their faith. Their conscious objection and suffering are recast as theological rigidity, which happens to be the narrative that hardliners of the official Church have put forward for decades.

One of them was the late Bishop Jin of Shanghai, a Jesuit whom Hollerich holds up as an example that compromise is possible. Jin, he says, was “wholly Catholic” and “also accepted by the underground church.”³³Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.62

What Hollerich does not mention is that Jin had accepted ordination without papal approval and usurped the diocese while the legitimate bishop (also a Jesuit) was kept under house arrest. He therefore enjoyed great freedom from the government, received a constant stream of international visitors, and traveled the world to explain the situation of the Church in China.

Global Warming

On September 24, 2021, Hollerich sent a letter to all the heads of the European institutions, on behalf of the “European Laudato Si’ Alliance.” Translating the papal letter “Laudato Si” into an actionable political program, Cardinal Hollerich exhorted European leaders to comply with a list of concrete demands, among them to “update near-term national targets” and “stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure” in order “to deliver on a 1.5°C limit to warming.”

Hollerich advocates for “ecological conversion” in line with Laudato Si. When he told America magazine that he personally had begun his conversion by making environmentally-conscious choices, avoiding plastic bottles and switching to a hybrid car, he could not have anticipated the size of the carbon footprint that his travel on behalf of Pope Francis would bring. As general relator of the Synod on Synodality, he travelled extensively, making several trips within Europe, and to Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Cardinal Hollerich’s Red Hat and Extra-Diocesan Tasks

The elevation of Hollerich to the cardinalate was difficult to understand from a pastoral perspective. It did not fit an agenda of “going to the peripheries” since declining Europe already had twice as many voting cardinals as growing Africa. Even within Europe, Hollerich represents a withering Western branch compared to the livelier Catholicism of Southern and Eastern European countries. In hindsight, it seems to have been a move to give authority to the synodal diplomacy he was to undertake on behalf of Pope Francis. As soon as he received the red hat, he also received an auxiliary bishop who since 2019 has taken care of the diocese while Hollerich was quickly made a member of a number of curial departments: culture, interreligious dialogue and Catholic education. In 2021, Hollerich again successfully stood for election, this time for the vice-presidency of the Council of European Bishop’s Conferences (CCEE). The same year Pope Francis named him general relator of the Synod on Synodality.

CARDINAL HOLLERICH’S SYNODAL DIPLOMACY

The German Synodal Path

In 2018, Cardinal Hollerich had just taken up office as president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) when in neighboring Germany a report about abuse in the Catholic Church from 1946-2014 was published.³⁴MGH Studie, Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, 2018. Mannheim, Heidelberg, Giessen: MHG Research Consortium Amid the outrage and loss of trust, high numbers of Catholics ended their automatic tax contributions to the Church. In response, the Church announced a process to identify, through discussions between bishops, religious, and lay representatives, the “systemic” and “structural” causes of the abuse crisis and make the necessary changes. Since the Protestant German Church claimed to have very few cases, the dominant narrative was that distinctly Catholic features must be at fault: the ordained priesthood resulting in a male-dominated power structure, celibacy, and Catholic teaching on sexuality.

A One-Way Path?

When in 2019 the project launched under the name “Synodal Path,” it left little room for surprise about where it would lead: a two-thirds majority for resolutions seemed guaranteed by the bulk of progressives among the German bishops and a 40% block of lay representatives from the “Central Committee of German Catholics,” an organization that for decades supported women’s ordination, the abolition of celibacy, a change to the Church’s teaching on homosexuality, and a lay role in choosing bishops. The abuse crisis lent urgency to their vision: only radical changes to the Church would ensure her survival and implementing these changes was akin to preventing abuse. Theological reservations were met with suspicion and labeled as a refusal to admit fault or to learn from mistakes. The tacit implication was that abuse is a problem caused by “conservative” theology and those who support it.

Cardinal Hollerich appears to share this assumption. In a 2023 spontaneous exchange with lay activists from the US, he seems to link the mishandling of abuse to theological conservatism. Asked about changes to canon law that would more effectively prosecute those who cover up abuse, he said that as general relator of the Synod he cannot do much, since if he did, he would “be shot by all the conservative bishops.” In the same context he suggested that the Pope’s hands were likewise tied, except to “slowly by slowly replace the bishops with better people.”³⁵“Encounter with Cardinal Hollerich”, Nate’s Mission, 2.10.2023

Doubts About the Synodal Process

As for the German bishops, in early September 2020, the first whistleblower protested against uncollegial tactics at the Synodal Path in an open letter. Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg revealed that when a small group of bishops did not fall into line with majority views on the ordination of women, the majority had resorted to what he felt were underhand methods: contentious drafts were simply passed without allowing the corrective input of minority committee members.³⁶Cf. open letter of Bishop Voderholzer who protested against a text about the role of women in the Church that was passed to the regional conferences without being voted on allegedly “because of time constraints” and offering a style of argumentation he found “lacking any level of theology”. Rudolf Voderholzer, 2.9.2020

Two weeks later, Cardinal Hollerich commented publicly on the Synodal Path in an interview to the news agency of the German bishops’ conference KNA, voicing “very great respect” for “daring to ask the big questions that have to be asked.” He signaled openness to women’s ordination, but in terms of strategy he cautioned against one country arriving at conclusions out of step with others. “I in no way want to interfere – but should we find answers to these questions in each individual country or do we eventually need a European Synod?” he asked.

In February 2021 Hollerich, as president of COMECE, called for just such a European Synod for bishops. In May the Vatican announced a two-year global synodal process and in July Hollerich was appointed “general relator.” Since then, he has traveled Europe and the world guiding the process and engaging with the national churches.

Advice to Cardinal Woelki: “I Would Resign”

Meanwhile in Germany, with further diocesan investigations being made public, more bishops were accused of having mishandled abuse cases, among them conservative Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne who was a major obstacle to the Synodal Path progressing smoothly. He had voiced concern early on that the low level of theological reflection on display would embarrass the Church internationally.

With regard to the mishandling of abuse, Cardinal Woelki was cleared of having done anything wrong other than “not communicating well” when he re-commissioned a methodologically flawed report which had led to confusion.³⁷Woelki was first cleared by an independent report on the Diocese published in March 2021. Despite this the Vatican undertook its own investigation, but declared that it found no evidence against him in early 2022. Nevertheless, some calls for his resignation continued and he offered it to the Pope who in October 2021 ordered him to step down for a five month “period of reflection,” appointing an administrator to lead the diocese. This meant that Woelki would not be a voice in the public debate and in the voting at the third session of the Synodal Path, but was expected to return to his diocese once the “period of reflection” had ended.

Then, on February 2, 2022, the day before the Synodal Path met for their plenary assembly to vote on same-sex blessings and changes to the Catechism on homosexuality, Cardinal Hollerich gave another interview to KNA. He opened with advice for Cardinal Woelki to resign: “I cannot say what he should do. But if it was me, I would go,” even though he had “done no wrong” in the handling of abuse cases, but only had “very bad communications.”

Homosexuality: Church’s Teaching Is Wrong

Hollerich went on to address the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. When asked how he deals with the fact that the Church teaches that homosexuality is a sin, his statement left no room for interpretation: “I believe that this is wrong. But I also believe that we need to think further in terms of doctrine. The way the Pope has expressed himself in the past can lead to a change in doctrine.”

Given the timing of such an unequivocal endorsement of doctrinal change by the Pope’s handpicked leader of the world synod, it seemed likely that the Pope was on board with both changes to doctrine and with Hollerich lending a guiding hand on the Synodal Path. This seemed confirmed when, on February 5, 2022, a “mixed discussion group” between the Roman Synod Secretariat and the presidium of the German Synodal Path was announced.

In the meantime, however, Hollerich’s interview made headlines around the world and the unusual clarity of the cardinal’s language backfired. Cardinal George Pell promptly called on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to publicly reprimand him for his “wholesale and explicit rejection” of the Church’s teaching on sexual ethics. As so often happened during Pope Francis’ pontificate, the CDF issued no correction.³⁸When Woelki’s suspension ended, he resubmitted his resignation, leading to continuous speculation about his imminent removal until it became clear that the Pope had let the offer lapse without comment. With this, Woelki was to be present and vote at the fourth session of the synodal path in September 2022.

“I Am Not in Favor of Changing Any Doctrine”

On August 26, 2022, Cardinal Hollerich held a press conference at the Vatican, as the world synod was now entering its continental phase. As general relator he emphatically insisted: “I have no personal agenda for this synod. I have got a concrete mission from the Pope which is to listen and to serve. (…) I am open, I am listening, and I am not pushing any agenda.”³⁹ Vatican Press Conference, “The second phase of the synodal process” 26.8.2022, min 1:20:43

He then reformulated his position on changing doctrine: “I fully believe in the tradition of the Church. And what is important, I think, in this process is not a change of doctrine. But what is important is to listen to everybody […] and to have a change not of doctrine, but a change of attitude, that we are a Church where everybody can feel at home. So, I am not in favor of changing any doctrine. I am in favor of a Church where really everybody can feel welcome.”⁴⁰ Vatican Press Conference, “The second phase of the synodal process” 26.8.2022

Episcopal Swing Votes Thwart Synodal Path

Two weeks later in Germany, at the Fourth Session of the Synodal Path, the policy paper on the liberalization of Catholic sexual morality failed to gain the necessary majority from the bishops:

33 bishops had voted in favor, 21 against with three abstentions. The assembly was suspended and crisis meetings took place. The web portal of the media office of the Swiss bishops’ conference ran the headline: “Cowardly snipers? These bishops blocked the reform paper on sexual morality,” complete with mugshots of suspected nay-sayers. Later the rules of voting were changed, dispensing with the requirement of a two-thirds majority among the bishops, and giving more weight to the lay portion of the assembly; anonymous voting was also done away with, so dissenters could be identified and asked to defend their positions. From that moment on, all votes passed.

Ignores Bishop Bode Case

Then it came to light that the progressive vice president and chief organizer of the Synodal Path, Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, had severely mishandled 16 cases, favoring abusers, facilitating further abuse and neglecting to carry out canonical procedures. Unlike in the case of Woelki, this time Hollerich made no public suggestions. Indeed, Bode did not step down even temporarily, and for five months continued to lead the Synodal Path under a cloud. He offered his resignation in January 2023, but the Pope was slow to respond, dating the acceptance to the end of February, making it public only after the Synodal Path had formally concluded in March.

Before the fifth and final Synodal Path meetings, Hollerich preached in Aachen Cathedral, signaling support for the majority position: “Pride, fundamental egoism and the exclusion of other people and entire groups are greater sins than anything to do with sexuality.” In terms of strategy, however, he distanced himself from the German project, telling KTO, the French Catholic TV station that a national church cannot go ahead independently.

The process in Germany had been too “top-down,” he said, not of an entire community, but of an “ecclesial elite,” and this would lead to polarization. With no critique of content, only of procedure, it seemed to Hollerich that the Germans had delivered the right results, but did so too early and with a process that was too blatant. To make up for these shortcomings, Hollerich suggested there should be another synodal process with a much wider participation of the laity and bishops from outside Germany.

Hollerich: “Synodal Path Not a Model for the Synod on Synodality” 

At the outset Hollerich had lauded the process as open and unpredictable: “What I like about the Synodal Path is that it is a path where one does not always know where it will lead.”

After three years of participation, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, a critic of the Synodal Path, could not attest to such openness and unpredictability. In a June 2023 interview he explained that he found the Synodal Path project to have been “politically motivated” from the outset, with a large majority pursuing predetermined outcomes.⁴¹“Each time it was very politically motivated, with clear objectives for very specific reform proposals that the vast majority had their minds set on from the outset” 20.6.2023 Wolfgang Krinninger, “Eine Gewissensentscheidung, die mir alles andere als leicht gefallen ist”The same day Cardinal Hollerich, at a press conference in Rome, described the Synodal Path as “confrontational” and not a “model” for the proceedings of the world synod, since “we are more for harmony.”

Protestant Abuse Report Disproves Alleged Catholic “Risk Factors”

An unintended epilogue was delivered by the Protestant Church of Germany, in which all the changes proposed by the Synodal Path have long been implemented. In January 2024 it received the results of their first commissioned independent report on sexual abuse and it indicated a crisis of equal, if not larger, proportions to that of the Catholic Church.

The report showed that only a third of the abusers were pastors and that three quarters of the perpetrators were married when they committed their first abuse. Just as with the Catholic Church, two thirds of the victims were male. The researchers found that the problem could “not be reduced to any professional group or classic crime constellation” and that decades of denials and the refusal to investigate had been propped up by the conviction that their Church need not worry, because it does not have the Catholic “risk factors” of an ordained priesthood, a male-dominated power structure, celibacy, or the Catholic teaching on sexuality.

This notwithstanding, the Synodal Path is following its trajectory toward the establishment of a permanent council that will vote on the future of the Church in Germany. Only four of the German bishops, among them Cardinal Woelki, have distanced themselves from the project.

Cardinal Hollerich as General Relator of the Synod on Synodality

Dovetailing with his role as commentator and intermediary in Germany, Hollerich’s principal task since 2021 has been to lead the worldwide “Synod of Synodality.”

After the synods of 2014, 2018 and 2019 were mired in controversy and did not deliver conclusive recommendations for change, Pope Francis initiated a world-wide “listening” process to “discern” the “voice of the Holy People of God” that would be the basis of general synod and put Hollerich in charge. As general relator he guided the process through networking (traveling to attend the continental meetings of the Synod), giving media interviews (indicating openness for doctrinal change, while emphasizing that he has no agenda) and frequent meetings with the Pope. He was, of course, involved in the drafting of all the crucial texts.

He travelled within Europe and to Asia, Latin America, and Africa but does not appear to have visited the United States. He did, however, comment on issues related to the Church in the United States, such as noting a polarization in the USA as being far from the concept of synodality.

Through the different phases of the synod there were four stages of repeated “synthesizing” at work: at the parish, diocesan, continental and world level. All were asked to follow explicit instructions not to “summarize” but to see “what new horizons open up” by shining light on “original points” and giving voice to the “marginal.”

The final level of “synthesizing” rendered a document that was meant to represent the concerns of 1.3 billion Catholics. Over two weeks it was prepared by a team of 20.

The results were to be discussed and voted on by an assembly of bishops, religious and lay people. The hot button issues it highlighted were just one step behind those of the German Synodal Path: women deacons, pastoral care for people who feel excluded due to their sexual and gender identity, priestly celibacy, Church governance and role of women in the Church. Since discussions at the general assemblies were confidential, they, too, were presented in “synthesized” reports.

For the general assemblies a new method was introduced: groups of twelve were to engage in “conversation in the Spirit.” The conversations were guided by “facilitators” and the rules explicitly forbade participants to react to the statements of others in order to clarify or refute.

Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen criticized this innovation: “Imposing this method on the synod proceedings is a manipulation aiming at avoiding discussions (…) it is all psychology and sociology, no faith and no theology.”

Hollerich at no point conceded that in terms of human agency the synodal process may have flaws that open it up to manipulation. He always insisted that “there is no agenda” while at the same time invoking a supernatural status — and thus the authority of the consultation results — as “the work of the Holy Spirit.” He did not engage with any detailed procedural analysis but he had a clear idea what sort of person would question the process: a conspiratorial “circle” of people who are “afraid of the Synod and of a Church on the move, no longer stuck in the past (…) In truth, they know that they will not be able to stop it.”

There is no doubt about Hollerich actively guiding and directing the process. When he emphasized “freedom” and “openness” in discussions, this came with the promise that it would “change the Church.” He even anticipated how it would change: “I think a synodal Church will more easily try to speak about these topics than the Church as it was structured in the past.”

“This method is important today because we can no longer be satisfied with giving orders from the top down. In all societies, in politics, in business, what counts now is networking. This change in decision-making goes hand in hand with a real change in civilization, which we are facing. And the Church, as it has always done throughout its history, must adapt to it.”

Hollerich also indicated that there was a right way and a wrong way to vote, and that he viewed the synod as a process of overcoming opposition: “It was clear to me that some topics would have resistance. I am full of wonder that so many people have voted in favor. That means that the resistance [was] not so great as people have thought before. So yes, I am happy with that result.”

In the end, Pope Francis transferred the contentious issues to “specialist groups” to be studied further until 2025 and Hollerich will be “engaging in dialogue” with them. The synod’s final document focused on the broader concept of synodality and how to implement it in the Church.

Tradition Ignored

At the end of the Synod on Synodality, Hollerich evaded questions on why parishes and groups that celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass were not considered, even though these groups have record numbers of vocations and Church attendance. Traditional Catholicism “was not a topic for discussion,” he said, adding: “We were not against them; we were not for them.” Asked how such an approach can be called synodal when it is supposed to include listening to all points of view, he replied: “We have discussed things brought up from the people of God, and these people have not written to us.” His final statement was contradicted by many traditional groups who said they had submitted written texts during the consultation stages of the synod. Their contributions neither made it into the Rome discussions nor the synod’s final document.

• 1
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.13
• 2
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.15
• 3
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.34
• 4
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.47
• 5
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.47
• 6
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.101
• 7
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p. 117
• 8
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.135
• 9
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.135
• 10
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.81
• 11
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.95
• 12
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.135, N.B.: The cappa magna is a ceremonial garment, not a liturgical vestment and need not be worn to celebrate Mass in the tridentine Rite.
• 13
  The reference is to the practice in the diocese in 2013.
• 14
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.121
• 15
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.79
• 16
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt,” Freiburg 2022, p.79
• 17
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p. 135
• 18
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.34
• 19
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.36-7
• 20
  CCC 1583
• 21
  “Kardinal Hollerich – der kommende Papst?”, Rheintoday.de 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyltzaeUkdU, at min. 20.30
• 22
  Kardinal Hollerich – der kommende Papst?”, Rheintoday.de 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyltzaeUkdU, at min. 21.50
• 23
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.85
• 24
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt,” Freiburg 2022, p.53
• 25
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.49
• 26
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel Steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.79
• 27
  Serge Allegrezza, “Net recul des pratiquest religiouses et montée des spiritualités alternatives au Luxembourg”, 2023
• 28
  KTO TV, “Entretien avec le cardinal Hollerich, rapporteur général du Synode des évêques”, at min. 3:00
• 29
  (122)
• 30
  Both the Verbum Spei and the SSVM community live under the shadow of founders that were serial sexual abusers who created a culture of abuse. For Verbum Spei, see: Marie-Laure Lorrand, “Des garde-fous fragiles contre les abus”, 23.11.2021, Reporter. For SSVM see: Michelle la Rosa “Seeing ‘red flags’ – Is there transparency for troubled religious orders?” 29.11.2022.
• 31
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022,p.117
• 32
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.61
• 33
  Jean-Claude Hollerich, “Was auf dem Spiel steht. Die Zukunft des Christentums in einer säkularen Welt”, Freiburg 2022, p.62
• 34
  MGH Studie, Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, 2018. Mannheim, Heidelberg, Giessen: MHG Research Consortium
• 35
  “Encounter with Cardinal Hollerich”, Nate’s Mission, 2.10.2023
• 36
  Cf. open letter of Bishop Voderholzer who protested against a text about the role of women in the Church that was passed to the regional conferences without being voted on allegedly “because of time constraints” and offering a style of argumentation he found “lacking any level of theology”. Rudolf Voderholzer, 2.9.2020
• 37
  Woelki was first cleared by an independent report on the Diocese published in March 2021. Despite this the Vatican undertook its own investigation, but declared that it found no evidence against him in early 2022.
• 38
  When Woelki’s suspension ended, he resubmitted his resignation, leading to continuous speculation about his imminent removal until it became clear that the Pope had let the offer lapse without comment. With this, Woelki was to be present and vote at the fourth session of the synodal path in September 2022.
• 39
  Vatican Press Conference, “The second phase of the synodal process” 26.8.2022, min 1:20:43
• 40
  Vatican Press Conference, “The second phase of the synodal process” 26.8.2022
• 41
  “Each time it was very politically motivated, with clear objectives for very specific reform proposals that the vast majority had their minds set on from the outset” 20.6.2023 Wolfgang Krinninger, “Eine Gewissensentscheidung, die mir alles andere als leicht gefallen ist”