New group co-founded by Bishop Eleganti seeks to challenge German Synodal Way

(LifeSiteNews) — A new German lay group co-founded by Bishop Marian Eleganti seeks to represent Catholic who oppose the heretical German Synodal Way.

The group, called Pro Fide Ecclesiae, was formed last Sunday in Offenbach am Main, Germany. According to kath.net, the new organization seeks to give voice to those who do not feel represented by Germany’s largest lay body, the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), and who do not feel heard by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK).

The founding members include Germans from both within and outside the country, Catholics of foreign origin living in Germany, and believers worldwide with close ties to Germany. Despite the palpable sense of marginalization, the founders emphasize that conservative, faithful Catholics by no means constitute a minority in German parishes – they have simply become virtually invisible in media coverage and official dialogue.

The new association now aims to close this representation gap. It is open to both laypeople and clergy, but defines itself under canon law explicitly as a lay movement in the sense of the conciliar decree on the lay apostolate (Apostolicam Actuositatem) of November 18, 1965.

One of its co-founders is Bp. Eleganti, who is known for defending attacks on Church teaching from inside and outside the Church. He stressed: “We want to defend the faith against heretical interpretations and distortions.”

The newly elected chairman, attorney Thommy Schott – who also initiated the movement – sharply criticized recent developments within the German church, referring in particular to the recent “Katholikentag” (Catholics Day) in Würzburg. The event featured scandalous displays, including BDSM and lesbian groups who purport to be Catholic and a clown liturgy.

Schott said it became clear at the Katholikentag how many believers now think “the reforms from the rainbow world are what it means to be Roman Catholic today.”

Schott attributed this confusion to the deliberate employment of obfuscating terminology and media dynamics: “The terminology coined by the reform-minded leaders has contributed to these errors just as much as the press, which is increasingly failing to fulfill its duty to inform and instead conveys a certain stance.” The lawyer made it unmistakably clear: “We believe, however, that the abolition of celibacy, the ordination of women, and a sexual morality contrary to Sacred Scripture are not ‘a different kind of Catholicism,’ but are not Catholic at all.”

The newly founded movement is thus responding to a deep sense of alienation felt by many believers in light of the direction the current hierarchy in Germany is taking. Schott warned of the global consequences of this divergent path: “A schism in the Church in Germany, however, is a schism in the universal Church, for we are one.”

The movement therefore sees it as its duty to set a counter course. “We will show that the faith of our fathers is the true faith,” the chairman declared, and warmly invited all Catholics to strengthen the movement through participation, support, or direct membership.