German bishops’ conference chairman Bishop Heiner Wilmer said Monday that he hoped the Vatican would respond to a request to approve a new national body known as the synodal conference by the end of 2026.
Wilmer made the remark on the opening day of the bishops’ Sept. 28- Oct. 1 plenary meeting in Fulda.
He told German media: “There is currently no news regarding the synodal conference. We are waiting for the recognitio [Vatican approval] for the draft statutes. I have mentioned this before, and I hope you will receive a response by the end of this year.”
Wilmer personally submitted the synodal conference statutes to the Vatican on March 31, 2026. A photograph showed him placing the document in the hands of Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
What is the synodal conference? What’s happening to its statutes? And is the apparent delay surprising?
What’s the synodal conference?
The proposal for a new, permanent national synodal body in Germany emerged from the synodal way, an initiative that brought together bishops and select lay people
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