Head of German Bishops thinks Vatican should allow homosexuals to be ordained priests

The Vatican's current guidelines state that "practicing homosexuals" and men who "have deep-seated homosexual tendencies" are excluded from the priesthood: Bishop Georg Bätzing is calling for a departure from this rule.

The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), Bishop Georg Bätzing, finds the ban on ordination of homosexual men to the priesthood wrong. It leads to taboos and silence. A diocese spokesman confirmed to the Catholic News Agency (KNA) corresponding statements by the Limburg bishop, which Deutschlandfunk had quoted in the program “Tag für Tag” (Wednesday).

The Vatican must move away from this rule, said Bätzing. When asked by the broadcaster whether it was right to exclude someone who comes out as gay from the priesthood, but to tolerate secret homosexuality, Bätzing's spokesman replied: "Basically it is the case that a candidate's secret relationships require a serious willingness to clarify their identity conflict with career and life decisions." But that doesn't matter whether someone is homosexual or heterosexual. This should play no role at all when it comes to the question of suitability for the priesthood. It is crucial that a secret relationship does not fit with the decision to be ordained as a priest.

Current Vatican guidelines

The Vatican's current guidelines, published in December 2016, state that "practicing homosexuals" and men who "have deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support a so-called homosexual culture" are excluded from the priesthood. These guidelines confirmed a Vatican document from 2005, even though the Vatican had emphasized after initial debates that homosexuals were not generally excluded from the priesthood and that a differentiated individual assessment was necessary.

As part of the Synodal Path to the Future of the Church in Germany, Bätzing had repeatedly spoken out in favour of reforms of Catholic sexual morality, including a general reassessment of homosexuality. In addition, the Diocese of Limburg under Bätzing's leadership repositioned itself on the topic of sexuality in January with ten guidelines. It says, among other things: "There is a diversity in sexual identity and orientation." An appreciative approach to these differences and diversity should be “actively promoted in the parishes and institutions of the diocese”. – The Deutschlandfunk report is about the story of a man who had to leave the seminary because of his homosexuality.

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