The Church in Germany is facing an exodus of Catholics in the wake of a clerical abuse crisis. More than 220,000 people formally left the Church in 2020. Only 5.9% of Germany’s Catholics attended Mass last year, compared to 9.1% in 2019.

The synodal assembly ended earlier than expected on Saturday afternoon after Bätzing asked organizers to count whether the meeting had a quorum of 154 participants after many departed early.

They determined that there were only 149 participants, five short of the two-thirds majority required to have a quorum.

CNA Deutsch reported that the decision to suspend deliberations was met with disbelief among participants in the assembly, which was beset by technical problems.

Speaking at the closing press conference, Bätzing said he regarded the sudden ending as a “teachable moment” that he hoped would sharpen participants’ awareness that the Synodal Way was entering an “important phase.”

The synodal assembly consists of 230 participants, including the German bishops, 69 members of the Zdk, and representatives of other parts of the Church in Germany.

During the three-day meeting, they discussed 12 of the 16 texts from the four synodal forums, as well as two foundational documents: a preamble and a theological orientation text.

The Vatican statement, issued with the approval of Pope Francis, sparked protests in the German-speaking Catholic world. Several bishops expressed support for blessings of same-sex couples, while churches displayed LGBT pride flags, and a group of more than 200 theology professors signed a statement criticizing the Vatican.

Priests and pastoral workers in Germany held a day of protest in May during which they conducted blessing ceremonies attended by same-sex couples.

On Sept. 30, the synodal assembly’s opening day, participants voted by a narrow majority of 95 to 94 to discuss “the question of whether the priesthood is needed at all,” CNA Deutsch reported.

But at the closing press conference, Bätzing criticized media reports suggesting that the Synodal Way would be debating the “abolition” of the priesthood.

“No one can say that the German Church is going to do away with the priesthood. That is not true,” he insisted, arguing that the vote instead gave the synodal forum on priesthood a mandate to “positively recall the reasoning once again why and where the position of the priestly ministry is in the midst of God’s people.”

While the synodal assembly voted to discuss the necessity of the priesthood, the Synodal Way’s complex procedures mean it is unclear whether there will be an official debate on the topic.

In the run-up to the Synodal Way, the German bishops’ conference clashed with the Vatican after it initially suggested that the process would end with a series of “binding” votes — raising concerns in Rome that the resolutions might challenge Church teaching and discipline.