Catholic bishops in Germany are pressing forward with reforms that would share authority over Church matters with lay Catholics, despite opposition from the Vatican.
The German Bishops' Conference has approved the statutes for the key reform body, the Synodal Committee, according to a spokesman for the conference, Matthias Kopp.
"Things have developed from the last plenary assembly to the talks in Rome and now," Kopp told dpa.
The Synodal Committee is tasked with drawing up plans for a permanent Synodal Council, which will bring together bishops with lay believers from the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) to make joint decisions for the Catholic Church in the country.
The Vatican has been highly critical of the German reform process, as traditionally the decision-making authority in the Catholic Church lies solely with the bishops and is not shared with those outside the clergy.
The ZdK, the influential body representing lay Catholics in Germany, has demanded greater decision-making power within the Church, citing the fallout from the child sexual abuse scandal and a loss of trust.
In February, the Vatican dispatched three senior cardinals from the Curia, its administration, to the German Bishops' Conference spring plenary meeting to effectively ban the ratification of the statutes with a sharply worded letter.
Bishop Georg Bätzing, the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, responded by removing the item from the agenda.
However, Bätzing then went to Rome for talks in March, and this mission has now apparently borne fruit.
Catholic experts described the arrangement as a temporary peace between the German bishops and the Vatican but said it remained unclear whether Catholic leaders would ever accept the German bishops' plans to share authority.
Four conservative German bishops have dissented from the plan and will not participate in the Synodal Committee. The conservative faction is led by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne.
The German Church had "above all bought itself time," Daniel Bogner, a Catholic theologian at the Swiss University of Fribourg, told dpa.
The German bishops had promised to coordinate all reform steps closely with Rome, and it has also been made clear that the Synodal Committee is only a preparatory body and not yet a new definitive structure.
"No statement was made on the matter, such as whether it would ultimately be accepted by Rome if the German Church were to provide its structures with binding and permanent elements of checks and balances and shared leadership responsibility," Bogner said. "In short, it is only a partial diplomatic success, but whether this stage can lead to a substantial step forward remains to be seen."
Canon law expert Thomas Schüller agreed, telling dpa that it appears Bätzing's talks in Rome had resulted in a "fragile truce."
Schüller, a lecturer at the University of Münster and himself a member of the Synodal Committee, said that the Vatican will continue to hold the final power over any decisions made in Germany.
"No matter what is decided in the Synodal Committee, it has to be approved in Rome. So Rome has its thumb on it. The Synod members will therefore deliberate as if under probation, without knowing whether they can hope for Rome's grace and mercy," Schüller said.
ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp expressed relief at the news, telling dpa that the decision of the bishops' conference to approve the statutes "cleared up ambiguities."
"We are now continuing to work together on the Synodal Path. We owe this to the people in our Church," she said.
Surveys have repeatedly shown that an overwhelming majority of German Catholics expect far-reaching reforms, including in a survey last year.
"An overwhelming 96% of Catholics say: 'My Church must change fundamentally if it wants to have a future,'" Bätzing said, summarizing the results of the survey.
"Reforms will certainly not solve all the problems of the Catholic Church, but they will worsen if there are no reforms," Bätzing said.
Many German Catholics support a positive approach to homosexuality, which is considered immoral under Catholic social teaching, as well as more co-determination for lay people, greater cooperation with Protestants and the possibility of allowing priests to marry.
Those more progressive views have put German Catholics in conflict with more conservative elements at the Vatican and around the world.