Sister Rose Bertoldo, a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who attended the synod, told CNS the document "left much to be desired in terms of the ordination of married men to (serve in) remote places."

"The time has come for Christians to have a stronger, broader voice in government so that the challenges of poverty and violence can be overcome," Bishop Kukah said.

The German bishops are due to hold their next regularly scheduled elections at the spring full assembly in early March in Mainz.

Pope Francis warned the bishops that many in the media and the general public will be focusing on those two issues -- married priests and women deacons -- while he wanted to focus on the social, pastoral, ecological and cultural challenges facing the Amazon region.

Bishop McElroy added, "There is no mandate in universal Catholic social teaching that gives a categorical priority to either of these issues as uniquely determinative of the common good."

ZdK president Thomas Sternberg told Germany’s Catholic News Agency (KNA): “There is criticism that disqualifies itself. It is so removed from everyday life that it cannot be taken seriously.”