For experts it is a "bang": A high-ranking clergyman is leaving the Catholic Church - and joining another.  What drove Andreas Sturm to take this drastic step?
 
  Speyer.  
 In the end, Vicar General Andreas Sturm simply lacked hope.  He no longer has any confidence in the Roman Catholic Churchs ability to reform, said the senior clergyman in Speyer - and in a drastic step left the church.
 
 A few weeks ago, Sturms decision shook the diocese in the Palatinate cathedral city.  Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann speaks of a "huge shock".  Whether the sluggish processing of the abuse scandal, the paralyzing inner life of the church as an institution - or the longing for a family: Only Sturm knows what drove him in the end.  A book now provides information about his motives.
 "I have to get out of this church" is the name of the work that is currently being published by Herder Verlag (ISBN: 978-3-451-03398-8th).  In it, the 47-year-old describes his career from a convinced clergyman to a doubter.  "Actually, its only now, looking back, that its clear to me that it was a long road to alienation," says Sturm, among other things.  The book should also show how much he is still attached to the church and that he wishes her all the best.  "Only without me."
 The step illustrates the crisis of the Church.  An example: During the Catholic Day in Münster 1870 still 50.000 were permanent participants, it was recently in Stuttgart 19.000.  The abuse scandals are still shaking the church to its foundations, as are the backlog of reforms, the massive turning away and the loss of importance of the institution.  Today only a minority - less than half of the population - belongs to one of the two main churches.
 
"It cant be Gods will"
 Sturm was considered a reformer in the diocese.  When the Vatican spoke out against the blessing of homosexual partnerships, the then vicar general publicly opposed it: "I have blessed apartments, cars, elevators, countless rosaries and so on and shouldnt be able to bless two people who love each other? That cant be Gods will be."  He also complained about discrimination against women.
 But whether the relationship to women or to homosexuals: "These are still not issues in the world church," criticizes Sturm in an interview with the German Press Agency.  He does not have the impression that the Vatican really understands the current situation.  "As long as Rome believes that everything has to be controlled like a kind of corporate headquarters, I dont think anything will change."
 Sturm has resigned - and at the same time joined the Old Catholic Church, for which he will work as a priest on Lake Constance in the future.  The Old Catholic Church came into being after the decisions of the First Vatican Council of 1870 that the Pope exercises supreme legal power in the Catholic Church and is infallible in matters of faith.  The diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany includes around 50 parishes in almost all federal states.
 
Unprecedented event
 The church expert and author Andreas Püttmann ("How Catholic is Germany... and what does it get from it?") calls it a "bang" that a high-ranking clergyman not only gives up his office, but also joins another church and to justify it writes a book.  "This unprecedented event shows what the hour has come for the Catholic Church in modern, liberal society."  For the Old Catholic Church, the prominent conversion was "a coup," he says.  "Many frustrated Catholics dont even see it as an alternative."
 From Sturms words it can be seen that the decision has been matured for a long time, says Püttmann.  "He remains differentiated and also expresses gratitude, even love for his previous calling. You would have to have a heart of stone to simply turn your nose up at a so-called apostate."
 "I need to get out of this church where abusers have been allowed to carry out their crimes and been covered up for far too long," Sturm writes in the book.  "I have to get out of this church where women are not ordained because we simply negate their calling and reject ordination as impossible."  Get out of a church where priests are not allowed to marry.  Sturm acknowledges a breach of celibacy.  "Ive had relationships in my life, and unfortunately I know all too well how much Ive hurt people through my secrecy."
 
Happier with a partner?
 As a priest, you often come home with a lot of impressions and then nobody is there, says Sturm.  "Theres a lot of loneliness. I havent always managed to absorb it in prayer alone."  For the future he does not want to rule out anything in the direction of family.  "Im not actively planning at the moment. But I think I could be happier with a partner by my side."
 Born in Frankenthal (Palatinate), Sturm was vicar general for more than four years.  Time and again he says he has "banged his head against the wall" during reform efforts.  "At some point your head will be too good for you."  His book is not a reckoning with the Catholic Church.  "I owe her a lot. What I want: to show the huge backlog of reforms."  He does not regret the step, but also emphasizes: "I apologize to everyone I disappoint, hurt and upset with this step - I just didnt have the strength anymore."
 Church is not superfluous, says Sturm.  "We have a lot to say to the world. The message is great and still needed."  However, the Roman Catholic Church urgently needs to deal with those issues "that actually need to be clarified very quickly".  "Then churches can develop radiance again."  In the end, that was no longer possible for him in Speyer.  "I thought Id play a record. But if Im more of a part of the preaching, then I have to go. I want to do this with a heart, not a show."  (dpa)