Conservative German bishops in Cologne and Regensburg join Passau’s Oster in rejecting conference document on sexual identities in Catholic schools, citing theological departures.
Newsroom (18/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) Two prominent German dioceses have publicly aligned themselves with a sharp critique of a controversial new document from the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) on handling sexual and gender diversity in Catholic schools, escalating internal tensions over anthropology, theology, and the legacy of the country’s divisive “Synodal Way.”
On November 14, the Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany’s largest diocese led by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, and the Diocese of Regensburg announced their full endorsement of a detailed November 10 analysis by Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau. Oster, a Salesian known for his outreach to young people, argued that the 48-page text — titled “Created, Redeemed, and Loved – Visibility and recognition of the diversity of sexual identities in schools” and released October 31 — represents a significant departure from traditional Catholic teaching on the human person.
The Cologne archdiocese stated it supported Oster’s commentary “particularly regarding the document’s anthropological and theological implications.” Regensburg, headed by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, a former professor of dogmatic theology, said Voderholzer “concurs with Bishop Oster’s assessment.”
Speaking on the sidelines of a November 14-15 plenary assembly of Bavaria’s State Committee of Catholics, Voderholzer leveled procedural criticisms at the document’s publication. He revealed that members of the DBK’s Permanent Council — comprising Germany’s 27 diocesan bishops or their delegates — had requested substantive changes to an earlier draft. Despite those objections, the text was released “almost unchanged in our name,” Voderholzer said.
“An agenda is being pushed here,” he warned. “I don’t want to hear in 30 years that the Catholic Church went along with it again.” He described the guidelines as emblematic of the 2019-2023 Synodal Way, a multi-year forum blending bishops and lay representatives that sought sweeping reforms, including reevaluations of Church teaching on homosexuality and gender diversity.
“I don’t get the impression that people are listening to each other and working together to achieve what we have been entrusted to do,” Voderholzer added. “Instead, a political agenda is being pushed through come hell or high water.”
Woelki, Voderholzer, and Oster form a core group of established Synodal Way critics. Together with the now-retired Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke of Eichstätt, they boycotted a post-Synodal Way committee tasked with establishing a permanent national synodal council. Their dioceses also rejected April 2025 national guidance on blessings for same-sex and unmarried couples, contending it exceeded the Vatican’s 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans.
The contested document stems directly from two Synodal Way resolutions: one demanding a “re-evaluation of homosexuality in the Magisterium,” the other addressing “gender diversity.” Prepared by the DBK’s Commission for Education and Schools — chaired by Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers of Dresden-Meissen and including four auxiliary bishops and six lay members — it offers pastoral recommendations for students, teachers, educators, and administrators on “the diversity of sexual identities.” A concluding glossary defines terms such as “heteronormativity,” “rainbow family,” and “sexual self-determination.”
Sources familiar with the commission describe it as relatively low-profile among the DBK’s 14 bodies. An anonymous insider told Catholic media outlet The Pillar that an initial draft circulated in early summer drew “serious theological and ethical deficiencies” from several bishops, who returned it for revisions. Minor changes were reportedly made, but the updated version was never resubmitted to the full episcopate before publication on the conference website as an official DBK text.
Oster, who reviewed a draft and unsuccessfully proposed additions on Christian identity, criticized the final product for failing to explain “redeemed” in its title. He argued it presumes all diversity is inherently redeemed without addressing sin, grace, or conformity to Christ, relying instead on secular human sciences detached from faith.
The controversy unfolds amid ongoing Vatican scrutiny of German reforms. Oster made an unannounced appearance at a November 12 Rome meeting between DBK representatives and Holy See officials discussing plans for a permanent “synodal conference.” Germany’s interim synodal committee is scheduled to vote on statutes for the new body during a November 21-22 gathering in Fulda.
As divisions persist, observers note the document’s non-binding status leaves implementation to individual dioceses — a pattern likely to widen the rift between progressive and conservative sees in Europe’s most influential Catholic conference.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from the Pillar
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