Bishop: Seminarians Need Safe Place to Explore Sexuality and Integrate It

In an interview about seminary formation of candidates for priesthood, Bishop Michael Gerber, of Fulda, Germany, supported the idea that gay man can be ordained.

Bishop Michael Gerber

Speaking with Katholisch.de, a major German Catholic news outlet, Gerber, who is also chairman of the Commission for Vocations and Church Services at the German Bishops’ Conference, was asked about his thoughts on the Italian bishops’ conference plan to admit gay men into priestly formation on a case-by-case basis, just as heterosexual men are assessed. Should the Catholic Church in Germany, which is undergoing a process to develop a more uniform, national program for the training of priests, adopt a similar policy, the bishop was asked.  He responded:

“We have to address the fact that there are people with different sexual orientations in the seminary during the interview process. We have to do this so that no one isolates their own sexuality according to the motto: What isn’t allowed doesn’t exist. Because that’s good for neither the person nor for pastoral care. My motto is: Does a man find a way to integrate his own sexuality during the course of his priestly training so that he can say yes to a celibate lifestyle? Can someone mature to the point where pastoral care takes place in inner freedom and isn’t sexually connotated? This is also abuse prevention, which applies to every form of sexual orientation. We need a climate where individuals can explore their own sexuality in a safe space and integrate it into their personality. I was in complete agreement on this in my contact with Roman authorities within the framework of their plan.”

How refreshing to hear such a candid assessment about priestly formation from a bishop!   He acknowledges that gay men will continue to exist in the seminary and priestly system instead of pretending they are not there.  He disparages the often unsaid rule in some seminaries that seminarians should just act as if their gay orientation doesn’t exist. Such an approach is damaging to the candidate and the chruch.

He acknowledges the importance of integration of sexuality into one’s personality.  In the past, and even up to the present day in some quarters, much formation of seminarians simply ignore the issue of sexuality.  And he recognizes that providing means for such integration would help prevent all sorts of sexual abuse by priests of any sexual orientation.

Most importantly, he stated that “We need a climate where individuals can explore their own sexuality in a safe space and integrate it into their personality.”  The power of that sentence rings loud because it is a wish and hope not just for seminarian formation, but a wish and hope that the entire church can be a place for all Catholics to explore, identify, and mature in their sexualities.  Our church certainly needs new ways of understanding how to help seminarians accept and affirm their sexuality, but the church also needs to develop a new atmosphere, on all levels and in all contexts, for everyone to understand, appreciate, and celebrate their sexual identity.

—Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, March 27, 2025