Mark Van der Veen – January 26, 2022
In Germany and the United States, parishes and ministers also began blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, with growing calls for bishops to institutionalize gay marriage.
However, in response to formal questions from a number of dioceses on whether the practice was allowed, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) made clear it wasn’t, ruling: “negative.”
In Germany, gay Roman Catholic priests are coming out, literally, and demanding that it is time for the world to see the ‘true diversity’ of the Roman Catholic church, and to demonstrate that the Body of Christ is ‘wonderfully queer’.
More than 120 LGBT priests, teachers, and Church volunteers in Germany have launched an initiative – OutInChurch – and demanded that Catholic higher-ups toss away their long-standing disdain for homosexual relationships and grant them greater freedoms within the Church.
The members of the church community published seven demands on social media under the “OutInChurch” initiative. These demands range from queer people saying they should be able to live without fear and have access to all kinds of activities and occupations in the church without discrimination.
They said their sexual orientation must never be considered a breach of loyalty or reason for dismissal from their occupation. They ask the church to revise its statements on sexuality based on “theological and human-scientific findings.”
Besides asking for equal rights, employees also put down demands that the church takes accountability for their discrimination against people of the community throughout history, calling on the bishop to take responsibility on behalf of the church.