Catholic LGBT+ Committee Criticizes Bishop’s Sermon on Human Dignity

In Germany, a working alliance of seven smaller faith-political based networks and groups that advocates for equality of queer people in the Catholic Church – recently criticized a sermon given by Bishop Stefan Oster of the Diocese of Passau.

The logo of the Catholic LGBT+ Committee.

The Catholic LGBT+ Committee took issue with a sermon given on the Feast of the Assumption and focused on the theme of human dignity. Oster framed his sermon by stating the Christian tradition provides insights into the dignity of every human being, a concept with which the Catholic LGBT+ Committee agrees.

However, as Oster’s comments about the recent Christopher Street Day  events, queer people, and societal diversity is where the Committee disagreed with the bishop.

Oster said Germany’s 1949 constitutional protections for marriage and family indicated the founders’ intent to protect a union of one man and one woman raising children, a view he said many at the time shared as part of a Catholic understanding of marriage as a sacrament.

Bishop Stefan Oster

The bishop went on to cite Christopher Street Day parades, the equivalent of other countries’ Pride festivals, as evidence of how dramatically society has changed, questioning whether the identities and lifestyles displayed there align with a divinely given sense of dignity. He posed the Dostoevsky-inspired question of whether the absence of God renders everything permissible. He said he feared that Germany’s drift from a biblical view of humanity ultimately threatens democracy itself, even though democracy is what permits that drift.

The committee issued a formal response to Oster’s sermon just over a week later. In part the statement reads, “As queer Christians, we believe and pray, celebrate worship services, and understand our lives in harmony with our relationship with God. Our gender identity or sexual orientation is a significant part of our lives. In coming out, we experience the liberating power of our faith.”

The committee took issue with Oster’s sermon, which they argue undercuts respect for human dignity by making disparaging remarks about queer people and Pride events, insisting that dignity does not depend on sexual orientation, gender identity, family structure, or religious belief. They accused Oster of implying that queer visibility signals distance from God.

The group also criticized Oster for not addressing theChristopher Street Day attack, saying his silence was especially jarring given rising hostility toward LGBTQ+ people. The statement cricized the bishop for pastoral and theological deficiencies.

–Matthew Gorczyca, New Ways Ministry, September 3, 2026