This
German
church is the tallest in the wor ld, until Spain’s
BY STEFANIE DAZIO AND PIETRO DE CRISTOFARO ASSOCIATED PRESS
ULM, Germany — The Ulmer Münster in southern Germany is the world’s tallest church. For now, anyway.
The Gothic-style Lutheran church’s reign — begun in May 31, 1890 — could end in 2025, when La Sagrada Familia Basilica’s “Tower of Jesus Christ” in Spain is set to be completed. At an eventual 172.5 meters (about 566 feet) high, the Catholic basilica in Barcelona should inch out the Ulmer Münster by a mere 11 meters (36 feet).
But La Sagrada Familia ‘s construction has taken 142 years and counting. The ultimate completion could come in 2026, 100 years since the death of the original Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí. Ironically, when the basilica reaches its final height, it will be thanks to a 17-meter (55.77foot) cross that was made by a German company.
Still, the Ulmer Münster’s lead pastor isn’t upset.
“I don’t find it all that fascinating that it is the highest church tower in the world,” Dean Torsten Krannich told The Associated Press. “The church also lifts my heart up to God. This is simply a wonderful church that invites you to pray and be thankful.”
After all, Ulm will always have Albert Einstein. The physicist was born there in 1879 and lived in Ulm for the first 15 months of his life. His extended family remained, and he returned and climbed the church’s tower in 1923.
In addition to a stained glass window inside the Ulmer Münster that features Einstein and other famous scientists, the head of communications for Ulm’s tourism board is quick to point out that the rest of the city has “a very high density of art and culture.”
“We can inspire the guests who come here even when we no longer have
La Sagrada Familia is done
the highest church in the world, but only have the second-highest,” Dirk Homburg said.
The Ulmer Münster’s history dates to 1377, when Ulm’s citizens decided to demolish their old parish church. Located outside the city gates, it could be a perilous trek for congregants during the frequent wars of the Middle Ages. The residents chose to finance the building of a new one in the city’s center themselves, and planned for it to have the highest spire in the world.
Construction paused in 1543 when, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, the city’s leaders decided to stop the work amid political and economic turbulence Building resumed in 1844 and by May 31, 1890, the church was complete
Reaching a record 161.5 meters (530 feet) high, the Ulmer Münster was built deliberately to be taller than the Cologne Cathedral in northwest Germany — which topped out at 157.2 meters (516 feet) in 1880. Although Ulm was destroyed by a World War II bombing raid in 1944, the church itself remained upright. But the Ulmer Münster’s age, as well as weather impacts and some 1 million annual visitors mean that construction and restoration occur constantly amid tourism and religious services
For example, visitors can currently climb 560 stairs to the viewing platform at 102
meters (335 feet). The platform at 143 meters (469 feet) — 768 stairs — is closed due to stairwell repairs.
Krannich said it remains special regardless
“Whether the tower is now 5 meters (16.4 feet) higher or 5 meters lower, it doesn’t matter to the quality of this church,” he said.
Ursula Heckler, a twotime visitor to the church, said she initially journeyed to Ulm in 2019 because she, like many others who trek there, knew it was the world’s tallest. She doesn’t plan to visit La Sagrada Familia when it takes over.
Christos Kalokerinos, a native Ulmer, is unruffled by the looming loss of status
“There are so many other nice things about the Münster that it’s not really relevant,” he said. “I think most people think that way, too. But of course it was also great to brag a bit about the fact that we have the highest church tower — because many, many people don’t necessarily know Ulm that way.”
Indeed, there are few indications of the record in the city. The gift shop inside the church just has a fake fireplace labeled “the world’s tallest church,” and the only reference in a tourism store across the street appeared to be a postcard stacking the church’s height up against the Great Pyramid of Giza, Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty. All are shorter than the Ulmer Münster
Catholic reform debate launched by Pope Francis leans away from ordained roles for women
BY NICOLE WINFIELD ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — Debate was leaning away from allowing women to take on ordained roles in the Catholic Church as the second phase of Pope Francis’ reform project opened Wednesday with an agenda topped by calls for women to take up more positions of responsibility Francis presided over an opening Mass in St. Peter’s Square with the 368 bishops and laypeople who will meet behind closed doors for the next three weeks to discuss the future of the church and how to make it more responsive to the needs of Catholics today. Nearby, advocates for women’s ordination staged a flash mob under the motto: “Don’t Kick the Can, Women Can Be Priests.”
Several of the most contentious issues are officially off the table, after they encountered resistance and objections during the first session of the synod, or meeting, last year. They include ministering to LGBTQ+ Catholics and ordaining women to serve as deacons Francis entrusted these topics to 10 study groups that are working in parallel to the synod and offered updates on their work in the opening session Wednesday night.
In the most eagerly awaited status report, the Vatican doctrine chief, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, said the debate on women’s role in governance was moving away from a fixation on an ordained ministry such as the diaconate Instead, he said, the debate was moving to actual experiences of women leading Catholic communities and exercising power without the benefit of authority that is derived automatically from ordination.
“We know the public position of the pontiff, who does not consider the issue (of the female diaconate) mature,” Fernandez told the synod hall. “The opportunity for further study remains open, but in the Holy Father’s mind there are other issues yet to be investigated and resolved before rushing to talk about
a possible diaconate for some women. Otherwise, the diaconate becomes a kind of consolation for some women and the most decisive issue of women’s participation in the church remains neglected.”
He said that by studying influential Catholic figures including Joan of Arc, Dorothy Day and St. Teresa of Avila “the issues of access to the diaconate appear resized and we try to widen the spaces for a more decisive female presence.”
Francis launched the reform process in 2021 to put in practice his goal of creating a church that is more inclusive, humble and welcoming, where ordinary Catholics have a greater say in decision making than the all-male priestly hierarchy
The process, and the two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics that informed it, sparked both hopes and fears that real change was afoot.
In his marching orders Wednesday, Francis urged delegates to leave aside their self-interested positions and truly listen to one another.
“Otherwise, we will end up locking ourselves into dialogues among the deaf, where participants seek to advance their own causes or agendas without listening to others and, above all, without listening to the voice of the Lord,” he said. The first phase of the synod process ended last year by concluding it was “urgent” to guarantee fuller participation by women in church governance positions, and calling for theological and pastoral research to continue about allowing women to be deacons.
Deacons perform many of the same functions as priests, such as presiding over baptisms, weddings and funerals, but they cannot celebrate Mass Advocates say allowing women to be deacons would help offset the Catholic priest shortage and address longstanding complaints that women have a second-class status in the church: barred from the priesthood yet responsible for the lion’s share of the work educating the young, caring for the sick and passing the faith onto next generations
MATTHIAS SCHRADER | AP
Exterior view of Ulmer Münster, the world’s tallest church, in Ulm, Germany, on Sept. 18.