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| Picture as it appears on Vatican website. |
Bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann views offers to "cure" homosexuality critically. For such initiatives, there is no official Church backing, Ackermann said on Wednesday evening in Saarbrücken.
Recently, the newspaper "Die Zeit" had reported among other about physicians that advertise in order to change sexual orientation, and apply it strictly in some Christian circles as an "insider tip". Ackermann addressed himself to the Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) a publicly organized discussion in Saar, attended by around 100 people who took part. The two-hour meeting was the first of its kind in Germany. On a smaller scale similar discussions have taken place with representatives of gays and lesbians, for example, in the diocese of Essen and Germany ahead of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. which took place in 2011 in the Archdiocese of Berlin.
Contested control in Employment Law for Church
The meeting in Saarbrücken addressed questions about the Church's handling of sexuality and the Church employment. A topic was the so-called loyalty obligations. Thus, employees in the ecclesiastical ministry, who live in a gay marriage and wish to register the partnership law, must expect a dismissal. The LSVD Saar called Ackermann for a "Saarbrücken appeal" to publicly state that "in his diocese, employees of the Catholic Church need no longer worry if they enter into a registered partnership about a termination of their employment." This should apply at least those "not identifying any professions," [If they're not officially Catholic for purposes of German law and State tax] such as for doctors and nurses in Catholic hospitals.
Ackermann called for understanding that the loyalty obligations for the Church as an institution are important. At the same time he acknowledged in some areas there is a "tension", "which is not good." Currently, the bishops were in-depth discussions on how the loyalty duties were to be conceived in the future. The conversation in Saarbrücken hailed the Bishop of Trier as "honest". He wanted to be a "listening presence" and to contribute to mutual understanding on controversial issues. The organizers stressed that it would serve to build bridges and to engage in conversation with each other. In that way, the way to dialogue [Destruction of Catholic doctrine and practice, to say nothing of lay confusion.] is still open. (kna 7/17/2014 mg)
Dieser Text stammt von der Webseite http://de.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/07/17/d:_homosexualit%C3%A4t_muss_nicht_%E2%80%9Egeheilt_werden/ted-813772
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