Catholic Church organises a Pride Slam in Lucerne. "With our Pride commitment, we want to send a strong signal for queer-friendly pastoral care, an ecumenical stance, and a creative theological project: the Queer Bible."

"A strong sign of queer-friendly pastoral care": Lucerne churches participate in Pride Central Switzerland

In Lucerne, the Catholic churches are involved in various ways in Pride Central Switzerland on August 23rd – with their own events such as a Pride slam, church presence at the festival and demonstration, and with financial support. Both bodies state that this is a matter of course. A central figure in this is Meinrad Furrer, Catholic leader of the ecumenical St. Peter's Chapel team.

The churches have been present at Pride Central Switzerland in Lucerne since its revival in 2022. St. Peter's Chapel in Lucerne plays a central role. "St. Peter's Chapel is located in the heart of vibrant Lucerne on the Reuss River and is our city pastoral care," explains Ingrid Schmid, Head of Communications/Marketing for the Catholic Church of the City of Lucerne.

"The director of St. Peter's Chapel, Meinrad Furrer, himself a queer person, is putting a lot of heart and soul into this with his team and volunteers." He advocated for church participation immediately after moving from Zurich to Lucerne. And he "immediately brought the three regional churches on board," Schmid said. The Evangelical Reformed Church and the Christian Catholic Church are also involved.

New: a Pride Slam

The Pride program – including that of the churches – is similar to the past three years. With one exception: For the first time, the church is organizing a Pride Slam, featuring three preachers and three poets, as Catholic theologian Meinrad Furrer wrote in response to an inquiry.

The Pride Slam will take place two days before Pride, on August 21, at the "Madeleine" bar. The team is also committed to inclusion and diversity through other events, Furrer said. In the week leading up to Pride, St. Peter's Chapel is also preparing for the event with spiritual lunchtime inspiration.

Biblical Encouragement at the Festival

At Pride itself, on Saturday, August 23rd, the ecumenical team of St. Peter's Chapel will have a booth on the festival grounds starting at 4 p.m. "There we will offer information and discussions – and our popular wheel of fortune with texts from the Queer Bible," announced the Catholic Church of the City of Lucerne. "Whoever spins will receive a queer Bible verse and, if desired, a personal blessing."

They receive their encouragement via a QR code on a donated rainbow prism. Furrer said they have now received new encouragement thanks to their continued work on the Queer Bible. The offer was clearly well received. "Last year, we reached several hundred people with it, across all age groups and identities."

Demonstration with banner "God loves diversity. We do too"

Starting at 8 p.m., church-affiliated people will participate in NightPride, a colorful, musically accompanied demonstration through the city. They will carry a banner reading "God loves diversity. We do too." This is "a public commitment to an inclusive church that stands up for human rights, love, and freedom," according to the ChurchPride website. The procession will end at Löwenplatz, where evening concerts and performances will take place starting at 10 p.m.

The following day, on Sunday, at 2 p.m., an ecumenical service for Pride Central Switzerland will take place in St. Peter's Chapel with the catchy title "Celebration of Pride." The service will focus on three short sermons on texts from the Queer Bible. Barbara Steiner (Reformed), Rinaldo Keiser (Christian Catholic), and Meinrad Furrer (Roman Catholic) each deliver a short sermon from the Queer Bible, which will be randomly drawn by the lucky dip.

Catholic City and Cantonal churches participate

The Catholic churches of the city and canton of Lucerne are both contributing personnel and financially to this queer event in Central Switzerland. Nana Amstad-Paul, a member of the Synodal Council of the Catholic Church of Lucerne, informed us upon request that staff and members of the Synodal Council were present at the Pride and were partially involved. She is a Synodal Councilor of the Catholic Church of Lucerne and is responsible for pastoral and ecumenical affairs.

The city and cantonal Catholic churches are committed to their involvement in Pride. The cantonal church is "naturally committed and happy to support the Catholic Church's presence at Pride," says Nana Amstad-Paul.

The Catholic Church of the City of Lucerne is there for all people and strives to unite in a mindful way," Schmid explains the city church's commitment. "With our Pride commitment, we want to send a strong signal for queer-friendly pastoral care, an ecumenical stance, and a creative theological project: the Queer Bible."

Their financial commitment also stems from an initiative by Meinrad Furrer, as both Catholic bodies say. In 2022, he submitted a request to the three regional churches for a contribution to the Sunday ecumenical Pride service. Since then, they have supported this celebration both morally and financially, Schmid says, adding: "The other events and the Queer Bible are financed from the project budget of St. Peter's Chapel."

Meinrad Furrer moved to St. Peter's Chapel in Lucerne in the summer of 2022. Previously, he worked in Zurich on the "Urban Church" team and was part of the organizing committee for Zurich Pride.

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