German Bishops’ Commission Drafts Strongly Positive Approach to LGBTQ+ Students in Catholic Schools

An educational commission of Germany’s Catholic bishops conference has drafted a document on sexual diversity in Catholic schools which focuses on visibility and respect for queer and trans students and staff.

According to a report in Katholisch.de, the drafted paper comes as a response to a recent survey of over 2,000 students, teachers, and parents at German Catholic schools conducted by the Berlin Institute for Christian Ethics and Politics. A vast majority of surveyed individuals said addressing the “diversity of sexual identities” as an important task for their schools, and approximately 20% of respondents reported that they experience or have observed discrimination against LGBTQ+ students.

Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers

In response, the German Catholic bishops’ School Commission, led by Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers, produced a draft of a document that is intended to provide Catholic school communities with “food for thought, guidelines, and basic knowledge…to enable them to respond to the new realities and conflicts” in relation to gender and sexual diversity. A primary goal of the text is to “identify and reduce existing irritations and uncertainties in dealing with the diversity of sexual identities” in order to foster school environments and attitudes that provide space for all students.  Bishop Timmerevers made headlines in 2020 when he publicly endorsed approving blessings for same-gender couples, three years before the Vatican approved such a measure.

The drafted document, which has the working title “Created, Shaped, and Loved – Visibility and Recognition of the Diversity of Sexual Identities in Schools,”notably focuses on creating school environments that foster respect for queer and trans students, as well as recognizing the need for visibility of these individuals’ lives. The news report indicates that the text is intended to raise awareness of the situation of LGBTQ+ students and teachers, many of whom undergo painful experiences of insecurity, doubt, discrimination, and bullying. The text asserts that prejudice and discrimination have no place in Catholic schools.

The text also states that the goal of an LGBTQ+ friendly school should be to support “the holistic personal development” of children and young people, which includes providing a space “in which children and young people can gain certainty about their sexual orientation and gender identity.” Furthermore, the document advocates for gender-inclusive language “in which no person inevitably has to assign themselves to a specific gender or is assigned that gender by others.”

Because the document is still in the draft stage, it has not been officially published. The draft text was prepared by a team of editorial experts, and now must be approved by the commission and the bishops. The bishops have several weeks to discuss potential criticisms and changes, which will then be forwarded to the School Commission, who will ultimately approve and publish the paper with the working title “Created, Shaped, and Loved – Visibility and Recognition of the Diversity of Sexual Identities in Schools.” According to reports, the text will be labeled a publication of the School Commission and not be upgraded to a paper by the German bishops.

While the draft has reportedly been met with approval from the heads of the diocesan school departments, it has faced its share of criticism as well, including comments that the text speaks vaguely of respect without engaging with Catholic moral teaching. Neither the bishops’ conference nor the authors of the text have commented on such criticism, yet the document itself does state that it does not intend to make “sexual moral judgements,” but rather to emphasize school pedagogy and pastoral approaches. The goal is not necessarily to settle or invite debates, but rather to emphasize the ways that LGBTQ+ students and staff ought to be received, welcomed, and included.

Around Germany, additional strides are being made in the realm of LGBTQ+ inclusive Catholic education. The Archdiocese of Hamburg recently published a framework for its Catholic schools which states, in part, “We promote awareness of the diversity of gender identities and sexual orientations.” In the Archdiocese of Freiburg, a transgender person was appointed as a religious education teacher for the first time.In the Diocese of Passau, a Queer Working Group (AG Queer) was founded and has since identified a Catholic school as queer-friendly.

This most recent draft by the School Commission is an additional progressive step . As Hasenauer reports, the text brings forth an important reflection: that questions of identity are intrinsically linked with questions about God. The text states:

“Keeping the question of God alive is demonstrated first and foremost by not shielding the diversity of sexual identity from the question of God and entrusting it solely to sex education.”

When we explore our identity and open our hearts and minds to the diversity of gender and sexuality, we explore and open ourselves to aspects of God’s creation.

—Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, July 31, 2025