The revolt of the liberal German bishops

A Protestant observing recent events in the German Roman Catholic hierarchy might be tempted to quote Yogi Berra: “Its déjà vu all over again!”

Veteran Vatican observer Edward Pentin recently posted on X: “Rome’s Failure to Correct Germany’s Bishops has Emboldened Their Pro-LGBT Agenda.” He linked to his Substack, which contains an excerpt from a recent interview conducted by Thomas Ward with German sociologist, Gabriele Kuby.

Kuby is the author of a powerful book entitled, The Global Sexual Revolution: Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom, which traces the expansion of the sexual revolution in the 20th century and highlights the role of entities such as the European Union and the United Nations. She issues a clarion call for a return to the traditional, Christian sexual ethic as the bedrock for the family, which she sees as essential to upholding the freedom of human beings to be human. In the interview with Ward, she points out that in a recently released document (summarized here) the German hierarchy encourages Catholic school pupils “to self-identify according to their sexual identity” and encourages Catholic schools to consider “diversity of sexual identities is a fact.” Teachers are encouraged to present sexual morality as “disputed” and allow students to form their own judgments.

Have we not seen this movie before? This is exactly the sort of rhetoric that came out of the Episcopal Church and other liberal Protestant denominations as they descended into complete captivity by LGBT “queer” ideology. Only three Catholic bishops (out of 110) in Germany have spoken out against this embrace of extreme liberal teaching on human sexuality. Kuby points out that this places the German hierarchy on a collision course with official Roman Catholic teaching as contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and many papal documents over decades. She says of the German bishops, “They do not build up the Church—they actually pull it down. They do not follow the Pope. They are not good fathers to all the parents who want to protect their children.”

Pope Francis equivocated. He wanted to prevent the German bishops from opening up schism between Germany and Rome, but he did not come out strongly against their promotion of queer ideology. Words are fine, but they must be backed by action and so far, Rome has been passive.

In the 16th century, the German princes rejected papal control of the church and instituted Protestantism as the religion of the land. Today, it is not orthodox Protestants in Germany who are challenging the authority of Rome but liberals occupying the highest offices in the German Roman Catholic Church. Who is going to give way, the papal teaching office or the German Church? Right now, it looks like the irresistible force is meeting the immoveable object. Will the result be an explosion?

This could go one of three possible ways. First, it could lead to outright schism where the liberals are not in communion with Rome. Second, it could lead to Rome clamping down on the rebels and bringing the Germans back into line. Third, it could lead to the Roman Church quietly acquiescing to the German agenda and falling into line with the EU, the UN, and other proponents of the sexual revolution. One problem, however, is that this third possibility might also result in schism as well. Even though 11 of 27 European states have redefined marriage as a genderless institution, only one African country (South Africa) has done so. The opposition of African Christians to the imperialistic Western agenda on sexual issues is well-known. Will Rome end up having to choose between Europe and Africa? The big money is in Europe; the numbers are in Africa. In the long run, which one outlasts the other?

What we are seeing play out here is a possible fracture in the Roman Catholic Church that might be as significant to world history as the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. But conservative Protestants ought not cheer for such an outcome. The Vatican has been an ally in the resistance to the juggernaut of the sexual revolution for the past century and no Protestant should be happy that it is now wavering. Besides, if it goes the way of the liberal Protestants, that is worse than remaining conservative Roman Catholic. At least the Roman Catholic Church officially teaches the existence of God and the supernatural. But liberal Protestants are heretics of whom it can be said what Paul said about heretics in his day: “... they are enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame” (Philippians 3:18-19). We don’t need any more of those.