Bishop Schepers decried the reparation act as “not an act of faith, but an act of exclusion” and “shameful,” it betrays a “fear of diversity” and “spiritual narrowness.”
Newsroom (14/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) In a pointed rebuke that underscores deepening fissures within the global Catholic Church, Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen has condemned a recent prayer of reparation led by four conservative bishops, labeling it a “scandalous sign of ecclesiastical narrow-mindedness” and an affront to the Gospel’s call for inclusivity. The gesture, performed on October 4 during the Catholic Identity Conference, followed a September 6 LGBTQ pilgrimage to the Vatican, which Schepers defended as a legitimate expression of faith rather than a provocation.
Speaking to the German bishops’ news agency KNA, Bishop Schepers decried the reparation act as “not an act of faith, but an act of exclusion” and “shameful,” arguing that it betrays a “fear of diversity” and a “dangerous spiritual narrowness.” He emphasized that the Church should instead seek repentance for “the harm it has caused to queer people over the decades,” adding that credibility on matters of love is undermined when the institution “rejects people who love.” Schepers portrayed the Vatican pilgrimage as a “celebration of faith” that highlighted the “vibrant diversity” within the Church, insisting: “These pilgrims did not act against the Church — they are the Church.”
The reparation prayer was spearheaded by former U.S. Bishop Joseph Strickland, Kazakh Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Swiss Auxiliary Bishop Marian Eleganti, and Dutch Auxiliary Bishop Rob Mutsaerts. In their statement, the prelates framed the LGBTQ pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica as a “platform for legitimizing sins against the sixth commandment,” explicitly referencing “fornication” and “sodomy” as violations of Church teaching on sexual morality.
This clash arrives against a backdrop of escalating debates in the German Church over pastoral outreach to LGBTQ individuals, including the contentious issue of same-sex blessings. Bishop Schepers, appointed in February 2024 as the first National Commissioner for Queer Pastoral Care by the German Bishops’ Conference, has been a vocal advocate for inclusive practices. Born on April 18, 1953, in Oberhausen-Osterfeld, he was ordained in 1979 and elevated to auxiliary bishop in 2008. With degrees in theology, philosophy, and canon law, Schepers has long engaged in diocesan judicial and pastoral roles, previously serving as Essen’s “queer representative.”
The German bishops’ Synodal Way, a reform process initiated in response to abuse scandals, has fueled these tensions by urging official blessings for same-sex couples. In April 2025, the conference released guidelines titled Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft (“Blessings Give Strength to Love”), which propose frameworks for such blessings while purporting to align with Vatican directives. However, implementation varies: some dioceses have embraced the guidelines for pastoral use, while others resist, citing the 2023 Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans, which permits informal blessings but prohibits ritualized ones.
Vatican officials have pushed back firmly. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), rejected claims by German Bishop Georg Bätzing that the guidelines received DDF approval, stating in an October 8, 2025, response: “The DDF didn’t approve anything [of the irregular unions’ guidelines], and wrote a letter some time ago reminding [the German bishops] that Fiducia supplicans excluded any form of ritualization.” Bätzing, president of the German bishops’ conference, defended the document as a “pastoral concretization” of Fiducia Supplicans, insisting at a September 22 press conference that it avoids formalized rituals and was developed “transparently with the Dicastery.” This discord echoes earlier criticisms, such as Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s 2023 assertion that blessing same-sex unions in Germany “does not align with Catholic doctrine,” despite informal practices in many parishes.
Adding another layer, Pope Leo XIV’s recent interventions have highlighted the Vatican’s delicate balancing act on LGBTQ issues. In a Crux interview, the pontiff critiqued Northern European efforts to publish rituals for blessing “people who love one another,” warning that such moves contradict Fiducia Supplicans and Church teaching on marriage. Yet, in a revelation from Italian Bishop Francesco Savino, Pope Leo XIV personally encouraged a Mass for LGBT Catholics during a Jubilee-year pilgrimage organized by the group La Tenda di Gionata. Savino recounted that during an August private audience, the Pope urged him “with great tenderness” to celebrate the liturgy, telling him to “go and celebrate the Jubilee with those in attendance.” In the same interview, Pope Leo XIV affirmed that “everyone is invited in” as children of God, though he deemed changes to doctrines on sexuality “highly unlikely, certainly in the near future.”
The September pilgrimage, which drew over 1,400 participants from around 20 countries to Rome’s Church of the Gesù, was hailed by supporters as a symbol of inclusion, building on the late Pope Francis’s calls for “respect, compassion, and sensitivity” toward LGBTQ individuals. Savino’s homily at the event stressed restoring dignity to the marginalized, declaring: “Christians are called to restore dignity to all, especially those to whom it has been denied,” and that “nobody should feel excluded.”
As the German Church navigates these flashpoints, with membership declines exacerbating calls for reform, Schepers’ stance positions him as a key figure in advocating for a more welcoming institution. Critics, however, warn that such approaches risk diluting core teachings, setting the stage for further Vatican-German dialogue in the post-Francis era.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Catholic Herald and Gaudium Press
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