The Congregation of the Sisters of the Redeemer of Würzburg, in Bavaria (Germany), will have to introduce changes in its governance structure and review its finances following the apostolic visitation carried out this summer at the Vatican’s request.
The inspection also examined the community’s spiritual and liturgical life, whose motherhouse church maintains close collaboration with the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Würzburg and is listed this year as the venue for an academic activity officially called Liturgielabor: Gottesdienst, “Liturgical Laboratory: Celebration.”
Among the measures announced after the visit are the appointment of a new regional superior for Germany, greater participation of younger sisters in governance responsibilities, more structured internal communication, continuation of the reform of the constitutions, and a critical review of the financial structures.
The congregation has not reported any specific irregularities nor made the visitors’ report public.
A new regional superior for Germany
One of the main changes affects the governance structure. Monika Edinger, superior general since 2013, left the post after the General Chapter held in June, at which the Tanzanian religious Tadea Mpanda was elected as her successor.
Edinger nevertheless remained in the new government as vicar general and also assumed the position of regional superior of Germany. This accumulation of responsibilities will be modified following the apostolic visitation.
According to the congregation’s announcement, a new regional superior will be appointed who will not belong to the General Council, with the aim of more clearly distinguishing the institute’s international leadership from that of the German region.
The community also intends to move toward a “more participatory” style of governance, especially by incorporating younger sisters into positions of responsibility. It will also reorganize internal communication and continue the process, already begun, of renewing its constitutions.
Rome examined the spiritual and liturgical life
The information released after the visit reveals some of the specific areas that were examined. In addition to the governance exercised by the former superior general and the economic situation, the visitors studied the congregation’s spiritual and liturgical life.
The sisters have not explained which specific aspects of this area were analyzed nor have they reported that Rome has ordered specific liturgical changes.
The inspection comes after several years of transformation of the motherhouse in Würzburg and collaboration between its church and the Department of Liturgy of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Würzburg, which uses it for academic and celebratory activities.
This collaboration currently has a particularly concrete expression.
In the summer semester of 2026, the Faculty of Theology itself included among its academic activities an exercise called Liturgielabor: Gottesdienst —“Liturgical Laboratory: Celebration”— taught by liturgist Joseph Grayland.
The place officially designated for its celebration is the motherhouse church of the Sisters of the Redeemer.
The program set three sessions, on 5 and 19 May and 2 June 2026, and presented the activity as a “creative expedition” through sound, prayer, and the midday atmosphere.
Experimentation with the church space
This is not the first experience of this kind carried out at the site.
Already in 2020, fourteen students took part in a project in which the convent church was used to test different liturgical space configurations.
The students experimented with the placement of the altar, the ambo, the celebrant’s chair, and the pews, and prepared different forms of prayer and celebration, including an evening prayer, a celebration of the Word, and a free form of the prayer of the faithful.
The University itself then described the sisters’ church as a “liturgical space for teaching and learning”.
Monika Edinger, then superior general, later participated in the evaluation of the experiences together with the students.
The tests also had consequences for the layout of the space. Some of the pews were placed facing each other, while the ambo and the celebrant’s chair moved to the open ends and the altar was placed near the chair.
According to the University, the configuration was intended to make the communal character of the celebration more perceptible.
The church subsequently underwent remodeling, and after approximately a year and a half of work, the Bishop of Würzburg, Franz Jung, consecrated the new altar in December 2022.
“Liturgy 4.0,” artificial intelligence, and lay-led celebrations
The motherhouse again hosted various experiences this year during the 104th Katholikentag, held in Würzburg in May.
The Faculty of Theology organized a program of liturgical workshops in the sisters’ complex on issues such as lay leadership of celebrations, adaptation of liturgical spaces to increasingly smaller communities, the presence of the climate issue in the liturgy, and the use of artificial intelligence and social media.
One of the workshops was titled “Laypeople lead the liturgy. New opportunities and challenges”. Afterwards, Getauft – und dann? (“Baptized, and then?”), a celebration of the Word led by the workshop leaders, was held in the convent church itself.
Another session addressed the question “Celebrating the liturgy with the climate in mind?”, with the participation of then-superior general Monika Edinger. Afterwards, the church hosted GreenUp – Gottesdienst mit Zukunft (“GreenUp – Celebration with a future”), also with Edinger among its leaders.
The program also included the workshop “Liturgie 4.0”, specifically dedicated to “celebrations for target groups with artificial intelligence and social media.”
After this meeting, Click and Pray was celebrated in the Sisters of the Redeemer church, which the Faculty of Theology itself presented as “a digital celebration.”
These activities were organized by the Faculty of Theology and hosted in the congregation’s complex and church.
The available sources do not establish that these experiences motivated the apostolic visitation or that they were censured by Rome. What the congregation has now confirmed is that its spiritual and liturgical life was one of the areas examined by the visitors.
Rome also reviewed the financial structures
Another area examined was the economic situation. Following the visit, the Sisters of the Redeemer have announced a critical review of their financial structures.
The congregation has been reducing and reorganizing its assets and some of its works in Germany for years.
When the apostolic visitation became known, the Bavarian public broadcaster BR reported the sale of various properties, including the former convent of Lülsfeld and a building in Würzburg, as well as the process of transferring several kindergartens.
The community has also been seeking a solution for the St. Josef Hospital in Schweinfurt, whose ownership it intends to relinquish. The institution’s economic difficulties had previously led to consideration of its closure.
When BR reported on the visit in June, it was still unable to determine whether these economic issues had any connection to the Vatican’s decision to send the visitors.
The sisters’ subsequent communication now confirms only that the economic situation was indeed the subject of the inspection and that its financial structures will be reviewed.
It has not been reported that the visitors found any financial irregularities.
Background of abuse in an institution run by the congregation
The congregation also has another publicly known precedent in Würzburg, although there is likewise no information linking it to the apostolic visitation.
In 2023, cases of physical violence and sexual abuse that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s at the Wickenmayersche Kinderpflege, a children’s home in Würzburg that was run until 1996 by sisters of the congregation, came to light.
According to BR, former residents reported physical mistreatment by sisters and sexual abuse committed by a music teacher. The city of Würzburg also acknowledged its own responsibility and approved compensation for the victims.
Monika Edinger then expressed her regret and asked forgiveness for the suffering endured. The superior general acknowledged that physical violence had been used as an educational method and stated that it could not be justified “neither then nor today.”
There is no public record that these events formed part of the apostolic visitation carried out this summer.
The specific reasons for the visit remain unknown
The existence of the inspection became known in June, while the congregation was celebrating a decisive moment for its future.
According to BR, the envoys sent to carry out the visitation were a religious sister and a canon lawyer. Monika Edinger then confirmed the investigation and assured that the community would cooperate “with openness and transparency,” but refused to explain its motives in order to allow the visitors to carry out their task without interference.
Canon Law professor Thomas Schüller explained to the Bavarian public broadcaster that an extraordinary apostolic visitation of this kind occurs when sufficiently serious accusations reach the Vatican to justify an investigation. He defined it as “no friendly visit”. The specific reasons that led Rome to intervene, however, were not revealed.
The visit coincided with the General Chapter, which was able to be held with Vatican authorization and elected Tadea Mpanda as the new superior general.
Now the areas that were examined and the first consequences are known, but the visitors’ full report continues not to be made public.
The congregation will have to separate the general and German regional governments more clearly, appoint a new regional superior, give greater responsibilities to younger sisters, review its financial structures, and continue the reform of its constitutions.
As for the third major area examined—the spiritual and liturgical life—no specific measures have been announced so far.
The Sisters of the Redeemer are a congregation of pontifical right with their motherhouse in Würzburg and a presence in Germany, the United States, and Tanzania.
Their origins go back to the work of Blessed Alfonsa Maria Eppinger (1814-1867), and their apostolate has historically developed in health care and care for the elderly, as well as in education and formation.
