Elke Büdenbender (61), lawyer and wife of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, calls for further steps towards equal rights for women in the Catholic Church. “If one had to prioritize in the light of the many disadvantages, the liturgical picture should first be corrected: men always dominate the choir room,” said Büdenbender on Saturday in Frankfurt. “Women should preach and thus be allowed to proclaim their faith,” she said. That would be “a first, important signal”.
Büdenbender was invited to the women’s peace pilgrimage of the Catholic German Women’s Association (KDFB) in Frankfurt on Saturday. The KDFB demands the admission of women to all offices of the Catholic Church – i.e. to the diaconate, priesthood and bishopric. Büdenbender said: “The position of the KDFB on the subject of women’s ordination is no secret – I support this position very much.” In Frankfurt, but also elsewhere in church communities, you meet “many strong women in the church,” said Büdenbender. “Often it is only because of the commitment of these women that community life with its many offers for families, children and marginalized groups is kept alive.”
120 years of the Catholic German Women’s Federation
During the pilgrimage, participants from all over Germany wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Frauenfriedenskirche. Under the heading “Might.Women.Strong. – for peace” the focus was on the role of women in peace processes. The Frauenfriedenskirche was built from 1927 to commemorate the fallen of World War I and was consecrated in 1929. The Catholic German Women’s League had designed the Frauenfriedenskirche as a memorial and financed most of the construction.
In Frankfurt, the KDFB also looked back on its 120th anniversary. In 1903, Catholic women from the then bourgeois women’s movement had founded an association in Cologne, which was not to be headed by a clergyman but by elected women. Its name at that time: Catholic Women’s League. The name changed in 1921 to the Catholic German Women’s League. Today, the women’s association sees itself as “an indispensable voice in church, politics and society”. (KNA)
2023-07-01 14:48:14
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