Bishop Apologizes for Church’s Mistreatment of LGBTQ+ People

A bishop in Germany has apologized for the church’s mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people, and encouraged Catholics to increase their support for equality and inclusion. Meanwhile, a German priest was acquitted on appeal in a trial over anti-gay hate speech.

Trier’s Bishop Apologizes During Ecumenical Service

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier participated last week in an ecumenical service of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, which as organized partially by the “Queer in the Diocese of Trier” working group (AK Queer) and held in the diocesan cathedral. According to the diocesan website (via Google Translate):

“Bishop Ackermann thanked AK Queer for the initiative and the preparation of the service, which he described as a ‘public confession’: ‘We want to be a diocese that values ​​diversity.’ The service during the diocese festival is also an expression of solidarity with people who are still being treated unfairly because of their sexual orientation and gender identity in the form of a lack of understanding, exclusion, ‘yes, and not infrequently hatred and violence – here and worldwide’. Therefore, it is a painful but necessary confession to realize that the church has reinforced this with its teaching.

“In the recent past, however, the church has been on the path of learning and change. ‘And that’s good!’ We will continue on this path. ‘I expressly ask for your continued support,’ he said to the believers. ‘When we worship, we do so to be encouraged by the closeness and promise that comes from God.’ Everyone who advocated for queer rights needed encouragement. Faith can be a source of strength and a resource.”

Two Protestant leaders, Reverend Sabine Schwenk und Reverend Matthias Holzapfel, co-led the service with Ackermann. A recording of the service, conducted in German, is available on YouTube here.

Priest Acquitted Over Anti-Gay Hate Speech Article

A German priest charged with inciting discrimination against gay people was acquitted on appeal in Swiss court earlier this week. As Bondings 2.0 previously reported, in 2022 a court found Fr. Manfred Hauke guilty of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.

The charge stemmed from his role as editor of the journal Theologisch, which published a 2021 article in which the author, Fr. Dariusz Oko, referred to gay priests as “a cancer” and “colony of parasites” in the church. Swiss prosecutors filed charges at the urging of an LGBTQ+ group, Pink Cross, which claimed the article violated Switzerland’s law bann on hatred due to sexual orientation. Of the latest development in the case, Katholisch.de reported (via Google Translate):

“The judge at the criminal court justified the acquittal by saying that the article did not contain any ideology that generally discriminated against homosexuals. It was a long scientific publication that did not talk about homosexuals in general, but rather focused on their influence in the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, she criticized the coarse vocabulary in the text. . .

“On Monday evening, the University of Italian-speaking Switzerland (USI) and the Theological Faculty of Lugano said in a statement that they had taken note of the ruling. Despite the acquittal, an ad hoc commission set up will continue to examine ‘whether Professor Hauke’s behavior violated the university’s basic principles and its code of ethics.’ In the meantime, Hauke ​​has already submitted an application for suspension from teaching at the Theological Faculty of Lugano.”

Separate criminal trials related to the article in Theologisch also occurred in Germany, resulting in the author and editor paying fines of several thousand dollars.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, April 24, 2024