Can The Roman Catholic Church Get A Married Popess?

Introduction

1. My ecumenical engagement since 2004

2. The "Eucharistic Ecumenism"

3. The "Eucharistic Ecumenism" started twelve years before the "Synodal Way"

4. Cardinale in pectore since November 20, 2010

5. Evangelical churches refuse to recognize the Pope

6. Not all Protestants can become part of the Roman Catholic Church

7. Recognition of the Pope and promise of obedience as Cardinale in pectore

8. The way from the Cardinale in pectore to the Cardinal

9. Mamabile. Four votes in the conclave on March 12, 2013

10. Implications for the next conclave

11. Conversion to the Roman Catholic Church

12. Can a Cardinale in pectore or cardinal marry and be mamabile?

Conclusion

Introduction

Pope Francis has called for a synod in preparation for the international bishops' conference in 2023.(1) Professor Dr. Myriam Wijlens, professor of Catholic canon law at the University of Erfurt and advisor to the German Bishops' Conference, is quoted in the press as saying that Germany is the country that has started such a process.(2) This is not true. The initiative for ecumenical reforms after a long period of stagnation and the thought that and how women could be ordained priestesses in the Roman Catholic Church come from me.

1. My ecumenical engagement since 2004

My ecumenical engagement began in 2004. As a student of social sciences at the Humboldt University of Berlin and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (out of service) I regularly attended masses in a Roman Catholic church in Bayreuth. I was the first pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (out of service) who unofficially took part in a Corpus Christi procession through Bayreuth.

During Holy Week and Easter 2006, I attended a general audience and masses with Pope Benedict XVI for the first time.

Already in 2007 I started to publish on topics from the Roman Catholic Church.(3) Since then I have been writing regularly about Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, the Vatican, about the coming to terms with abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, on the requirements for approving the ordination of women to priestesses in the Roman Catholic Church, on power in the Roman Catholic Church, and on other issues affecting the Roman Catholic Church.

I took part in Apostolic journeys with Pope Benedict XVI to Munich-Riem (2006), to Mariazell and Vienna (2007), to Santa Maria di Leuca and Brindisi (2008), to Jerusalem and Bethlehem (2009), to Prague (2009), to Edinburgh and London (2010), to Venice (2011), to Madrid (2011), to Berlin, Erfurt and Freiburg im Breisgau (2011).

2. The "Eucharistic Ecumenism"

My project of “Eucharistic Ecumenism” has been running since June 14, 2008. I have published in great detail on my website “Eucharistic Ecumenism Eucharistic Ecumenism Eucaristica Ecumene Eucharistique Oecuménisme”.(4)

The center of my project, which goes back to reading the "Lima Paper"(5) 1984, is that a woman can become a priestess in the Roman Catholic Church if she is ordained or consecrated in the Apostolic Succession, if she recognizes the Pope and if she does not have any conflicts with the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, which would set the Congregation for the Doctrine in motion.(6) There is not a single contradiction from the official Vatican and papal side that my project of the "Eucharistic Ecumenism" is incorrect.

3. The "Eucharistic Ecumenism" started twelve years before the "Synodal Way"

The reform process in the Roman Catholic Church was initiated by me on June 14, 2008 at a mass with Pope Benedict XVI started in the Apulian Santa Maria di Leuca.(7) It began with the two themes of ecumenism and priestly ordination for women in the Roman Catholic Church. When Pope Benedict XVI officially began in 2010 to deal with the abuse of children and young people in the Roman Catholic Church, I was there from the beginning.

Exactly these topics are among the topics of discussion of the so-called "Synodal Way", which was started by the German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics after it was decided at the spring synod of the German bishops in Lingen in 2019. The German Bishops' Conference and, above all, the Central Committee of German Catholics do not stand behind my project of the “Eucharistic Ecumenism”, but claim my ecumenical and women's rights progress without naming me at all. In addition, the “Synodal Way” tries to reclaim the fruits of my work and combines them with demands for more responsibilities for laypeople. In my opinion, these are not target-oriented for my topics.(8)

The first synodal assembly of the "Synodal Way" took place from January 30th to February 2nd, 2020 in Frankfurt/Main. When I asked whether I could take part in the first synodal assembly, neither the German Bishops' Conference nor the Central Committee of German Catholics answered. I took part in the opening mass in Frankfurt Dom on January 30, 2020. Those who are responsible do not want to see or acknowledge a connection between my project of the “Eucharistic Ecumenism” and the “Synodal Way”. Nevertheless, the fact remains that I began my reform efforts in the Roman Catholic Church twelve years earlier.

4. Cardinale in pectore since November 20, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI created me on November 20, 2010 for Cardinale in pectore. I published a photo session on this on November 20, 2020.(9) I have been working full-time as a freelance journalist since 2013. In addition, I am pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (without an official mandate). In short: I am a Protestant (!) woman (!) who war created Cardinale in pectore by Pope Benedict XVI

Below I want to share with you some of the implications of these facts.

5. Evangelical churches refuse to recognize the Pope

My “Eucharistic Ecumenism” did not fail or anything like that. The Protestant churches refuse to fully recognize the Pope without reservations. Martin Luther's excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church and his polemical and hateful criticism of the Pope, which shows traces of Martin Luther's linguistic localization in the non-clerical people, has an effect to this day.(10)

6. Not all Protestants can become part of the Roman Catholic Church

A negative side of my “Eucharistic Ecumenism” so far is that the representatives of the Roman Catholic Church do not want all Protestants without exception in the Roman Catholic Church. That is why there can be no Eucharistic mass celebration that would constitute unity among the denominations. Such a Eucharistic celebration was originally my idea, which arose from my reading of “Limapaper” in 1984.

7. Recognition of the Pope and promise of obedience as Cardinale in pectore

As a cardinale in pectore I have some rights that all cardinals have, some rights I don't have.

I obey the Pope of my own free will and must obey him when he says something. Every year I renew this promise at the Crisma Mass in St. Peter's Basilica during Holy Week. I celebrated the Crisma Messe every year between 2006 and 2019 in Rome.(11) In 2020 and 2021, traveling was not possible because of the corona pandemic.(12)

The status Cardinale in pectore cannot be denied for life. Like any cardinal, I could ask the Pope for my dismissal. The Pope in office could ask me, like any cardinal, to let the cardinal rights relax and rest.

Pope Francis dismissed individual cardinals during his time in office. This happened because they were found guilty of child and youth abuse. Such a process is not to be expected with me, since I have been continuously campaigning for the protection of minors from sexually motivated violence since 2010.

8. The way from the Cardinale in pectore to Cardinal

The Pope can publicly name me in a consistory and with that I would officially become a cardinal with all rights and duties. The decision is left to the Pope alone. There is no barrier on my part. If I would give up my ordination rights, which I became in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria on May 21, 1995, for insurance reasons or because I could be pensioned, my status in the Roman Catholic Church as Cardinale in pectore would not change.

9. Mamabile. Four votes in the conclave on March 12, 2013

At the last conclave after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI I got four votes in the election for Pope on March 12, 2013.(13) In the second ballot it is said that I got one vote. After my name was mentioned for the first time in the Sistine Chapel, cardinals are said to have spontaneously applauded. It is unclear whether four or five cardinals elected me Popess in the conclave of 2013.(14) As a Cardinale in pectore I am mamabile. My status as pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (2013: out of service, now: without service mandate) does not change anything. I am the first woman in the world who is mamabile as a woman.(15)

The validity of the conclave, in which Pope Francis was elected in 2013, was last confirmed in summer 2020. If my election as Cardinale in pectore in the conclave on March 12, 2013 would have been invalid, the entire first ballot would have been invalid. As a result, the entire conclave would have been invalid and Pope Francis would not have been legitimately elected Pope. The 2013 conclave is valid and my four votes are valid. So God is willing(16) my status as Cardinale in pectore and as a woman who is mamabile will not change until the next conclave.

10. Implications for the next conclave

As Cardinale in pectore, I do not have to be personally present in the Sistine Chapel to be elected in the next conclave. In 2013 I was in Bayreuth during the conclave on March 12, 2013.

Should Pope Francis publicly name my name as a cardinal before the next conclave, then as a woman and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (without official mandate) I would have the right like the other cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church who are under 80 years old to move into the Sistine Chapel for the conclave.

If I would lay down my ordination rights of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria before the next conclave and should Pope Francis publicly call me a cardinal, then I can personally participate in the next conclave. It would then even be my duty to take part.

If I would lay down my ordination rights of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria before the next conclave and if I would be Cardinale in pectore at the next conclave, then I would be eligible for election, as it was in the last conclave, and I would be again mamabile.

11. Conversion to the Roman Catholic Church

Some think that my conversion to the Roman Catholic Church should be a constitutive component for my further inclusion in the Roman Catholic Church and above all it should be the condition for the episcopal consecration in the Roman Catholic Church.

This could be a reaction to the fact that the regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm gives internal statements that, as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, I would be subject to his instructions. This would not be the case of course, because my rights and duties as pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (without official mandate) have so far only related to Bavaria and because my rights as Cardinale in pectore in the Roman Catholic Church are not depending on my status as Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (without official mandate).

Since July 1, 2000, I have no longer had an official mandate as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. On the same day I started to live celibate and without sex (chastely). My status in the Evangelical Lutheran Church was in the beginning given the addition "out of service" and should now be "without service mandate". The first addition was communicated to me directly, the latter one by email. I have no official statements on this from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. However, there are no statements against using these titles. Using a title without authorization you can be charged by criminal law.

I have not had an official mandate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria for 21 years, and so as a Cardinale in pectore I am of course not bound by the instructions of the regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. It would be the same if I would be elected Popess. Such ideas of dominance from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria are absurd.

Nevertheless, as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (without an official mandate) I have to keep my ordination promise. My ordination rights could be collected if I would act against them.

The helpful support of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria leaves every wish open. For some time I’m thinking about giving back my ordination rights because the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria did not give any help even in the most difficult times that I experienced in 2008 and 2009 and because I do not want to be pensioned at the age of 65. If I would be named as a cardinal by the Pope, I could work for the Roman Catholic Church until I turn 80.

Because of the fact that Pope Benedict XVI created me on November 20, 2010 Cardinale in pectore and because of the fact that I received four votes in the conclave as Cardinale in pectore on March 12, 2013, one can argue with good reasons that I am already an unofficial member of the Roman Catholic Church. Whether an official conversion would then be necessary to get a relevant number of votes in the next conclave or to receive the ordination as bishop in the Roman Catholic Church is an open question.

12. Can a Cardinale in pectore or a cardinal marry and be mamabile?

Because of my rights, which I got in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, I am allowed to marry as a pastor (our of service or without an official mandate). As a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, I must first ask the church leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria for permission.

As a Cardinale in pectore, I have kept the right to marry. Should I want to get married as a Cardinale in pectore, I would have to ask for Pope´s permission before. If I would be married as a Cardinale in pectore at the time of the next conclave, I could be elected just like at the last conclave and therefore I would be mamabile.

This means: I have the status of a Cardinale in pectore, I am allowed to marry with the agreement of the Pope in office and, together with my ability to be mamabile, it could be in the not too distant future that the Roman Catholic Church one day with me will get a married Popess, should I find a suitable candidate for marriage and should I get the necessary number of votes in the conclave.

The pre-condition for this would of course be that I would find an adequate man whom I would marry and who would marry me and that the Pope in office would agree to a marriage. If I would have my ordination rights as pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (without an official mandate), the church leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria would probably have to agree to a marriage. I am not allowed to marry a clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church (priest, bishop, cardinal), because celibacy is binding to every clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. If a clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church would marry me, he would probably be dismissed from service by the Pope in office.

These are theoretical discussions. At the moment I have been living since July 1, 2000, for 21 years, not only celibate, but without sex, that is, chaste. Before that, I lived in former years without sex for ten years. This fact is very important for Pope em. Benedict XVI

Conclusion

For the future of the Roman Catholic Church there are with me undreamt possibilities for the development and for the formation of the future. These possibilities are topping the wildest dreams of the so-called reformers of the so-called “Synodal Way”.

Why has the development not continued since 2010? After serious physical injuries which I had to face in 2008 and 2009, I have years of reconvalescence and an operation behind me and I am perhaps still not as though as it would be necessary for becoming a bishop. In addition, no possible diocese is currently vacant.

If I were publicly named as a cardinal by the Pope, I would be the first woman in the world to have the right to be consecrated as a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. With this consecration at least an partially ecumenical unity would be possible. I would then be the first female bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. I am currently the only Cardinale in pectore since ten years. It looks like as if I will be it for another ten years.

The Roman Catholic Church will not get around me when it comes to really deep reforms. At the same time, I try to give those responsible in the Roman Catholic Church everything in their hands so that they can carry out the reform process without me regarding women who can be consecrated as priestesses, should something happen to me. I am sure that neither high nor low can separate me from the Roman Catholic Church.

Elke Göß

(1) See Documento Preparatorio della XVI Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo del Vescovi, 11.09.2021, Documento Preparatorio della XVI Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi (vatican.va),11.09.2021; vgl. For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission Vademecum für the Synod on Synodality, 11.09.2021, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality (vatican.va),11.09.2021

(2) See dpa (2021): Kirche mit Laien verbessern – Papst will weltweiten Prozess, Kirche mit Laien verbessern - Papst will weltweiten Prozess - Berliner Morgenpost,11.09.2021

(3) See Göß Elke (2007): Gänswein knackt in einer kompetenten, knappen und relevanten Präsentation eine kirchenrechtlich "harte Nuss", Rezension zu Gänswein Georg: Kirchengliedschaft gemäss dem Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil: Zur Vorgeschichte, Erarbeitung und Interpretation der konziliaren Lehraussagen über die Zugehörigkeit zur Kirche, in: Göß Elke (2017): Rezensionen 2004 bis 2015. Wegmarkierungen in der Literatur, Liberale Gesellschaftsanalyse, Band 12, ebook, S. 130f, Rnsionen (elkegoess.com),11.09.2021

(4) See Eucharistische Ökumene Eucharistic Ecumenism Eucaristica Ecumene Eucharistique Oecuménisme, www.eucharistia.info,11.09.2021

(5) See Taufe, Eucharistie und Amt. Konvergenzerklärungen der Kommission für Glauben und Kirchenverfassung der Ökumenischen Rates der Kirche, Frankfurt/Main und Paderborn, 1983, 5. Auflage

(6) In previous publications I mentioned the year 1981. A question in the parish office of my home parish St. Gumbertus in Ansbach, which was only now possible, resulted that, as a 20-year-old parish council and student of Protestant theology, I held a speech about the "Lima Paper" on September 19, 1984 in front of the church council. In these days I do not have any written documents on this.

(7) See Göß Elke (2013): Die eucharistische Ökumene mit in der apostolischen Sukzession ordinierten, zölibatär lebenden evangelischen Theologinnen ist durch Papst Benedikt XVI vollzogen – ein persönliches Bekenntnis zum bayerischen Papst von einer lutherischen Pfarrerin, Erste Eucharistische Ökumene - Eucharistische Ökumene (eucharistia.info),11.09.2021

(8) See Göß Elke (2021): Den Willen Jesu Christi tun und sein Haus auf Fels bauen. Synodalität und Petrusnachfolge, Wege, Ziele, Kräfte, Grenzen: Wege (popess.info),11.09.2021

(9) See Göß Elke (2020): Io sono rosso. 10 Jahre Rückblick, Io sono rosso. 10 Jahre Rückblick - Eucharistische Ökumene (eucharistia.info),11.09.2021

(10) See Kasper Walter Kardinal (2016): Martin Luther. Eine ökumenische Perspektive, Düsseldorf

In general, Walter Cardinal Kasper's views on ecumenism and my ideas and interpretations of ecumenism differ significantly.

(11) See Göß Elke (2019): Die 11. Crisam-Messe mit der Erneuerung des priesterlichen Ordinationsgelübdes vor dem 14. Osterfest in Rom, 11. Crisma Messe 2019 - Eucharistische Ökumene (eucharistia.info),11.09.2021

(12) See Göß Elke (2020): 12. Erneuerung meines priesterlichen Versprechens am Gründonnerstag, 9. April 2020, online am Tag der Crisma Messe während der Corona-Pandemie, 12. Erneuerung des priesterlichen Versprechens (Crisma Messe) - Eucharistische Ökumene (eucharistia.info),11.09.2021

(13) See Göß Elke (2020): 12.03.2013 Die Wahl einer Päpstin wurde möglich, 12.03.2013 Wahl einer Päpstin wurde möglich - Eucharistische Ökumene (eucharistia.info),11.09.2021

(14) A Vatican technician is said to have told these details from the 2013 conclave. He is said to have known that he would die some days later. Pope Benedict XVI had decreed shortly before the 2013 conclave that anyone who passes on information from the conclave to the outside world excommunicates himself.

(15) Historically, there was probably Popess Joan in the 8th century. She had been elected to the highest office of the Roman Catholic Church as a woman in male clothes.

(16) See James 4,15

Regensburg, September 11, 2021

 update: September 12, 2021