Cologne Archdiocese is breaking new ground: five pastoral priorities set!

Cologne Archdiocese is breaking new ground: five pastoral priorities set!

The future of the church in the Archdiocese of Cologne is taking shape. In a comprehensive process to determine pastoral priorities, which has now been running for over a year, the archdiocese is addressing questions about its mission and future challenges. Simon Schmidbaur, the archdiocese's director of strategy and evangelization, provides insight into this important development. Domradio reports that this initiative is one of the first of its kind among larger church institutions in Germany.

“We want to be effective with limited resources,” says Schmidbaur, describing the main goal of the process. The focus is clearly on the question of why the church exists today, rather than on maximizing profits. Inspired by Pope Francis, the archdiocese values ​​synodal listening. The spiritual accompaniment of the process is characterized by listening, silence and prayer - an approach that seems particularly important today.

Strategic goals and areas of action

Cardinal Woelki emphasizes the longing for a church in transition and growth. As part of this realignment, various pastoral areas of activity have been put through their paces over the last year and a half. Four strategic goals are in the foreground: living discipleship, being a missionary church, working in a diaconal manner and acting in a way that is fair to all generations. The results will be used to identify five important areas of action that the archdiocese would like to strengthen in the future. For example, living charity, youth and family work as well as education in daycare centers and schools are central points. According to the Cologne announcement Strengthening commitment to the universal Church and networking with Catholics of other mother tongues will also be high on the agenda.

The focal points were developed from an in-depth consultation process with various committees. Education should not only impart learning, but also focus on values ​​education and the formation of conscience. International Catholic pastoral care will aim to better connect people of diverse backgrounds.

Economic solidity and future prospects

What are the financial foundations of these ambitious plans? The Archdiocese of Cologne is in a solid economic position, so that a strategic framework plan has been developed for the coming years to ensure its financial ability to act until 2030. The numbers speak for themselves: The archdiocese has assets of up to 3.8 billion euros, which should make it possible to support projects such as training volunteers or expanding palliative care.

The pastoral units are the heart of this development and are intended to accompany the process of setting pastoral priorities. In this way, the review and further development of the offerings is closely aligned to the needs of the people in order to ensure that the church is perceived as a lively place of encounter and faith. Modern methods of impact orientation and measurement are also used to obtain a holistic view of the effectiveness of pastoral work.

The plans of the Archdiocese of Cologne are clear: they are relying on a church that tackles the challenges of our time and comes to life in the local communities. Looking outside the box shows that the churches in other regions, such as the diocese of Aachen, are pursuing similar strategies to adapt the faith to the needs of the people. The hope remains that the new pastoral priorities will soon lead to a revitalized and committed community that brings faith, charity and hope into people's hearts.