LGBTQ+ German Church Workers Write to Pope Francis Seeking Reforms to Catechism

LGBTQ+ church workers in Germany who wrote to Pope Francis proposing that church teaching in regard to sexuality and gender evolve have now released their letter publicly after receiving no response.

The letter from members of the #OutInChurch initiative was personally delivered to the pope last September. The three signatories represent more than 500 LGBTQ+ church workers and volunteers. The letter begins by referencing the January 2022 announcement of the initiative in which some 125 church workers came out publicly. The signatories continue:

“With our initiative #OutInChurch, we want to speak out on our own. We no longer want others to talk about us while refusing to talk with us. We no longer want to hide, but to tell people about our lives, our feelings, our love, and our faith.

“Many of us are familiar with suicidal thoughts because of our queerness. Many feel unaccepted in and by the church because church teaching still views homosexuality and transgender identity as a defect. . .

“We believe that it is essential for a new beginning, and that you, as the head of the church, together with all other church leaders, take responsibility for the countless negative experiences that LGBTIQ+ people have had in the church, and that you push ahead with the task of reconciliation with the church’s history of guilt in this matter.”

Towards this end, the letter includes concrete proposals so that the church can “be committed to combating exclusion and violence against LGBTIQ people throughout the world.” The proposals are grounded in the need for the church to reevaluate its teachings on sexual orientation and gender identity in lieu of contemporary scientific and theological developments. The letter focuses on changes to the Catechism of the Catholic Church that reflect this shift, including:

Ending the negative teaching about same-gender relationships, a teaching which “is inadmissible because it violates the inviolability and dignity of the person” now that homosexuality is understood as a positive “variant of creation.”
Removing paragraphs 2358, which refers to a homosexual orientation as “objectively disordered,” and 2359, which mandates celibacy for lesbian and gay people, because “God’s creative plan wanted people to be different, to live differently, and to form loving relationships.”
Emphasizing the need for the church to work against “the persecution and oppression of LGBTIQ+ persons so that people can live their vocations in diverse relationships with dignity.”
Rejecting the notion that gender and sexual diversity is pathological, and therefore opposing conversion therapy such that “[n]o one should be coerced into believing that their homosexual orientation or transgender identity and their life- history realisation are inherently sinful.”

This proposal for a reevaluation of church teaching was a core item in the initial #OutInChurch release, which described such an effort as having “utmost relevance.” The letter’s signatories were three leaders in that initiative, Dr. Michael Brinkschröder, Jens Ehebrecht-Zumsande, and Fr. Bernd Mönkebüscher.

In a press release about the letter, #OutInChurch praised Pope Francis for condemning the criminalization of LGBTQ+ identities, and yet highlighted how such discrimination persists in the church today creating a “contradictory framework”:

“[The pope’s] demand [to end criminalization laws] becomes all the more credible when it is made by someone who implements it in their own laws and norms. It strengthens our appeal to the Pope, who alone as head of the Church can end the discrimination and mental-psychological criminalization of queer people! As long as church doctrine continues to classify lived homosexuality as a grave sin, denies trans people their identity, continues to mark homosexuality as an obstacle to ordination, etc., the above developments remain in a contradictory framework.”

Accompanying the letter was a book about German LGBTQ+ Catholics’ stories. The letter was prefaced by a poem from a German priest, Msgr. Stephan Wahl. The poem, addressed to Pope Francis and available in full here, is drawn from Wahl’s experience of a Way of the Cross service in Rome during Holy Week 2022 which focused on the diversity of families. He suggests a Station 14b addition, writing:

“I mean the ‘other’ families, that you in Rome, behind Vatican walls, which you still shamefully conceal, as if they didn’t exist or if they do, it’s unfortunate.

“The two men I mean, who love each other and said yes to each other, and the child who will grow up sheltered by them.

“The two women who have grown old together, who for a long time didn’t dare to confess, practised in hiding for decades.

“So many mothers, so many fathers, who embrace and protect their gay son, their lesbian daughter, The daughter who, after agonising years, becomes a son to the parents, now free and so full of life.

“The couples who have been childless for so long, who, by artificial means finally become parents, even though Rome forbids it.”

#OutInChurch’s members have taken once again a bold, courageous stance in seeking church reform on LGBTQ+ issues. The letter echoes many calls from many Catholics (including bishops) for church teaching to better reflect both scientific advancements and people’s experiences. While Pope Francis may not be inclined to overhaul the Catechism’s language about homosexuality, this pope, who so frequently encourages personal encounter and dialogue, should at least respond to #OutInChurch’s concerns and be open to the conversation.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, May 4, 2023