Gay Pastoral Minister Praises German Bishops’ School Guidance

“For me as a young person, homosexuality had a distinctly negative connotation. And that made it difficult for me to find my own identity. Having that piece of paper would have made it easier, I’m convinced of that.”

Jan Diekmann

This is what Jan Diekmann, a pastoral assistant and member of the queer community in Munster, has to say about the German bishops’ recently released guidance document for how Catholic schools should approach LGBTQ+ issues.  In a recent interview with Katholisch.de,Diekmann calls the guidelines, entitled “Created, Redeemed, and Loved,” a “milestone,”and he hopes it will help the church continue to make forward progress in acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics. 

When asked how the guidelines would have made his school years easier, Diekmann says that the Church has a “very strong voice in society,” and that these guidelines might have encouraged some teachers to “engage with the subject matter,” rather than simply not talking about queer identities. 

Diekmann told Katholisch that this lack of positive, or even neutral, discussion around queerness was particularly difficult for him. He describes the only times he heard others mention being gay:

“I didn’t just witness on the school playground how being gay was considered an insult. A friend of my father’s also once made very derogatory remarks about gay people, as did both of my grandfathers. That had a profound impact on me. During my vocational high school diploma, two or three boys approached me and accused me in a very negative way of surely being gay. I simply denied it, even though I had already started coming out at that time.”

For this reason, Diekmann labels the simple acknowledgment of sexual diversity in “Created, Redeemed, and Loved” as its most moving aspect. He  believes that were the document in place when he was in school, he and his classmates would have at least had positive exposure to differences in sexual identity. He recalled a correspondence he had with a former teacher::

“I had a religion teacher in my vocational high school program whom I greatly admire. He was a mentor and role model for me. Three years after graduating, I wrote to him saying that I would have appreciated it if we had discussed different sexual orientations in our religion classes back then….He agreed with me and also said that it wasn’t part of the curriculum at the time and that he intends to address it in his lessons from now on. This shows that sometimes all it takes is a small nudge to change thinking.”

In addition to providing guidance for how teachers can discuss sexual identity with students, the document also encourages students and teachers to support queer students when they are being harassed or bullied, a situation which happened to Diekmann when two peers confronted him about being gay. That situation occurred in the classroom, and Diekmann remembers “I’m sure other classmates witnessed it, maybe even the teacher. And I just wish I’d seen some solidarity.” He believes that, in a world where “Created, Redeemed, and Loved” exists, that the guidelines will empower students and teachers to stand up for queer classmates and discourage bullying.

Diekmann’s positive response to the guidelines  is not  universal. The document has generated plenty of controversy among German bishops, with some bishops praising it, while others saying they will not implement it in their dioceses. Diekmann, however, maintains his positive outlook, hoping  that the bishops would “empathize with people like [him].” He does not believe some  bishops’ criticism tarnishes the document in any way. 

“The document is out there.” Diekmann says. “Anyone can read it. Ultimately, it’s up to every teacher, every priest, every person who has any kind of responsibility, whether and how they implement what they’ve read. It doesn’t really matter which bishop signs it.”

Despite the controversy,  Diekmann sees the guidelines a step in the right direction for the church, though there is still a long way to go:

 “I think the Church would do itself a huge favor if it fundamentally championed marginalized groups in society. Then it would be more authentic than it is today and would gradually attract more people again.”

—Lynnzee Dick, New Ways Ministry, January 6, 2026