German Bishops Appoint New National Commissioner for LGBTQ+ Pastoral Care

In the German church’s latest move for LGBTQ+ inclusion, the country’s bishops’ conference has appointed a prelate to lead queer pastoral care efforts.

According to Katholisch.de, the German Bishops’ Conference appointed Bishop Ludger Schepers, auxiliary of Essen, as its first “commissioner for queer pastoral care” during their plenary meeting in late February. Numerous dioceses have such positions to oversee local and regional efforts, but Schepers’ new position is groundbreaking given its national purview. Elsewhere, Katholisch.de reported:

“[The] appointment is a starting signal for more openness to queer issues in the Catholic Church, [Schepers] said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio. ‘In the coming months, there will certainly be a lot of things that can be openly discussed.’ So far, the Church has suppressed such topics for various reasons, said Schepers. The church’s teachings state that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of their gender orientation. Many queer people also want to live their faith and not write off the church. He wants to act as a networker for them in his new office.

“According to Schepers, there are already church groups that deal with queer issues. Building on the Synodal Path reform project, these approaches should now be pursued further. In many dioceses, there are already initiatives which respond to queer people or people with questions on the topic. His task is also to help explain what gay, lesbian, trans or queer actually means. Prejudices and fears can only be allayed if people talk about them and offer educational programmes. The auxiliary bishop also sees the papal authorisation for the blessing of homosexual couples as an opening by the Vatican.”

For the task of helping all Catholics better understand LGBTQ+ issues, Schepers, who attended a blessing service for LGBTQ+ couples in 2022 and has lauded LGBTQ+ church workers in Germany for their advocacy, will be more of a guide, not a teacher. Katholisch.de reported some of Schepers’ views on this topic:

“Germany, too, has not been on a tolerant path towards queer people for long. However, the German Church could point out that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality in principle. It should be made clear that traditional values such as responsibility in a partnership and reliability are gender-neutral.”

The appointment of Bishops Schepers is helpful at this time because some of the German church’s efforts on gender and sexuality issues have been stymied through Vatican intervention. The country’s Synodal Way process that concluded last year issued significant calls for LGBTQ+ equality, including accepting transgender and nonbinary people in all ministries and sacraments, blessing same-gender couples, and re-evaluating church teaching on sexual ethics. Implementing these and other called-for reforms was to be overseen by a to-be-established Synodal Council, composed of both bishops and lay leaders. But that proposal is on hold after the Vatican barred it. In view of all this, perhaps Bishop Schepers can accomplish what is possible to advance LGBTQ+ ministry, welcome, and pastoral care now.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, March 8, 2024