Church in transition: For a just future for queer believers!

Church in transition: For a just future for queer believers!

Members of the queer community regularly gather for services in the crypt of the Antoniuskirche in Münster. On June 13, 2025, a meeting of the diocesan council in the diocese of Münster took place, which dealt with a fundamental topic: queer pastoral care. The goal is to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and fair for queer people. These efforts will be seen as a response to decades of discrimination and exclusion that many queer believers have experienced in church institutions. The experiences that queer people have had are at the center of discussions about change.

The diocesan council has developed key recommendations to sustainably improve the situation. Among other things, the members are calling for an open approach to the church's history of discrimination and the development of binding anti-discrimination guidelines. These should comprehensively take both gender diversity and sexual identity into account and thus offer legal security for queer employees. Iris Horstmann, Monika Schmelter, Markus Gutfleisch and Jan Hoyer, who were present at the meeting, emphasized the need to make queer topics visible in church practice.

A call for change

Jan Hoyer made it clear at the meeting that queer people should be recognized as “siblings in the faith”. “The church must be a place of hope,” said Hoyer. The diocesan council also called for increased awareness in the choice of words and a cultural change that promotes a culture of encounter instead of an atmosphere of fear. Queer people should be able to openly show their identity in church spaces. Striving for greater visibility on these issues is a crucial step in this direction.

Another aspect that came up for discussion was the need to integrate queer voices in the liturgy and to intensify conversations about their concerns. These changes could also be important with regard to the upcoming parish council and church council elections in November 2025. Here, 45% of the parishes have already decided on online elections - a small indication that change is desired.

A step in the right direction

Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers, who has been commissioner for queer pastoral care since February 2024, also emphasized that the Catholic Church in Germany must move away from discrimination and towards more acceptance. Schepers emphasizes that acceptance in many parishes is often higher than among their fellow bishops, which shows that a rethink is necessary. The Synodal Path of the Catholic Church, which was initiated five years ago, aims to further develop the views on these issues. Schepers sees the need to review and adapt the church texts in the light of new moral theological findings.

Overall, the current developments in the diocese of Münster and the discussions in the diocesan council reflect the desire to give queer people a space in the church in which they can feel accepted and safe. Now it remains to be seen how these measures will be implemented in concrete terms and whether the church is really listening to the call for change - a challenge that the Catholic Church in Germany should urgently accept in order to create a just and inclusive community.

Further information on current developments can be found at Lokalklick.eu, ms-aktuell.de and dw.com.