Catholic Cardinal Reinhard Marx has apologized for his church’s treatment of queer people.
“It is a tale of woe for many people,” said the Archbishop of Munich and Freising on Sunday at a service marking the 20th anniversary of the queer community in the Munich Church of St. Paul. The church made life difficult for many lesbian and gay people. He demanded “that one has to see what injuries we have caused”. “Sorry,” he said, referring to an interview he gave on the subject in Ireland a few years ago. Non-heterosexual people or people who do not identify with the traditional role model of men and women or other social norms relating to gender and sexuality describe themselves as queer.
All relationships that followed the “primacy of love” could be “accepted by God,” Marx emphasized. “And we think we could conduct and determine exactly” who is allowed to say to whom: “I love you.” He would like “an inclusive church, a church that includes”.
“I couldn’t have imagined being here with you 20 years ago, maybe even 15 years ago,” said Marx. He’s happy that things have changed, “that we’re not standing still”.
The Catholic reform movement “We are Church” sees the celebration with Marx as a “sign of a turn towards rainbow pastoral care” and a “new, more open attitude towards homosexuality and LGBTIQ”, said “We are Church” spokesman Christian Weisner. LSBTIQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220312-99-494163/3 (dpa)
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