Over the last three days, I've written things that I'm sure have annoyed many.

Therefore, I would like to add one more thing: I am very aware that the view presented presupposes, in a sense, the ideal pastor.

The spirit-filled community of believers, in which everyone contributes his or her own charisms and in which therefore no one has to be envious of what another does - because everything is of equal value - that is an ideal. It needs leaders who can take a step back, who lead and guide without seeking power.

I have been very fortunate in recent years. For a long time I have not had the impression of having to fight against a priest because he abused his power. I have experienced genuine shepherds who make a genuine effort not only to bring everyone along, but who are also willing to search together in conversation for the direction in which things should go and thus to shape leadership in a participatory way. I experience true fraternity in our church.

So it's easy for me to talk.

However, too many people experience their priests, their pastors, their parishes differently. I know this, and yet I am deeply convinced that the solution to this problem is not the ordination of women. Because the problem is not that women are not allowed to become priests, but that we link the priesthood completely unnecessarily with more power than is good for it. But that is something that can be worked on.