Agency Report –
The head of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) has criticized recent remarks by Pope Leo XIV on LGBTQ issues, saying they risk sidelining discrimination concerns.
In his first major interview since being elected in May, the pope said that questions linked to LGBTQ people were “highly polarizing” and that he sought to avoid deepening divisions within the Church, according to media reports.
Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the ZdK, told dpa that ignoring discrimination was itself polarizing. She said the pope is trying to stay in dialogue with everyone and keep all sensitive issues open. “In doing so, he acts as a bridge-builder within the Church, but at the same time the pressure for reform is enormous.”
The ZdK represents the Catholic laity, the non-clergy in local parishes.
Stetter-Karp said the key question was whether the Church continues to discriminate against people, merely acknowledging them in very abstract terms, or whether it provides concrete recognition, for example through blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.
She warned that many active parish members were turning away from the Church and urged swift implementation of reforms as Germany’s bishops gather in Fulda this week.
The ZdK president called for consistent application of measures already approved, including blessings for homosexual couples, which are currently offered in fewer than half of Germany’s 27 dioceses.
She also noted signs of reform, citing Speyer Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann’s call to end mandatory celibacy and conference chairman Georg Bätzing’s support for women’s ordination.
However, she also noted that resistant German bishops were vocal and received media attention, while a large group remained undecided. Many were waiting for signals from Rome, with some even avoiding key meetings, seemingly to avoid taking a position altogether.
