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Mayor of Nuremberg supports the ‘Out In Church’ initiative
More than 120 Catholic priests and church employees in Germany came out as LGBTQIQ+ and established a movement to stop institutional discrimination against this group of people, Deutsche Welle reported.
Mayor of Nuremberg Marcus König showed his support for the initiative ‘Out In Church’ on social media by reposting their picture with a rainbow-coloured hashtag #outinchurch on it, and a statement ‘’for a church against hate.’’
Mayor König also stated: “I myself am Catholic and went to a Catholic boarding school. My faith is important to me. And I would like “my” church to accept all people just as they are. Or as one interviewee put it: ‘God made me this way. And I can’t imagine that God made a mistake.’”
Former and current priests, teachers, church managers, and volunteers who identified as gay or queer called upon the church to take their concerns into consideration and finally leave behind the “outdated pronouncements of church teaching” on sexuality and gender.
The initiative also shared their demands to the Roman Public Church on social media. They include a demand to be able to live and work openly as LGBTIQ+ workers in church without fear and have access to all fields of church without discrimination.
Additionally, they called for the employment rules within church to be changed, statements on sexuality and gender revised, and all forms of discrimination opposed. Furthemore, the initiative also demanded the church to take responsibility for a bad treatment of LGBTIQ+ people throughout history and ensure access to sacraments for LGBTIQ+ people and couples.
“Have you seen the documentary “Wie Gott uns schuf” on ARD (or in the media library)? In it, priests, pastors and other employees of the Catholic Church come out as gay, lesbian or trans. I found it very touching how people, who are firm in their faith and stand by the church, doubt that they have to hide who they love, what they are,” mayor of Nuremberg Marcus König further stated.
The initiative OutInChurch has called all people working within church circles who are also members of the LGBTIQ+ community to join the movement. (photo credit: Out in Church logo)
