German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising speaks in front of a rainbow flag during a service marking the 20th anniversary of the LGBTQ community at St Paul’s Church in Munich, March 13. Photo: CNS. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said in an interview published on last week that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is “not set in stone” and “one is also allowed to doubt what it says.”
The cardinal made the comments in a seven-page spread in the March 31 edition of the weekly current affairs magazine Stern, reported CNA Deutsch.
Cardinal Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising, is one of the most influential Catholic leaders in Europe, serving as a member of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinal Advisers and president of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy.
He spoke about the Catechism in response to a question about “how homosexual, queer, or trans people are to be accommodated in Catholic teaching”.
He said: “An inclusive ethic that we envision is not about being lax — as some claim. It is about something else: encounter at eye level, respect for the other. The value of love is shown in the relationship; in not making the other person an object, in not using or humiliating the other person, in being faithful and dependable to each other. The Catechism is not set in stone. One may also doubt what it says.”
He went on: “We discussed these questions during the family synod, but there was reluctance to set something down. Even then I said: there are people living in an intimate love relationship that is expressed sexually. Are we really going to say that this is worthless? Sure, there are people who want to see sexuality limited to procreation, but what do they say to people who can’t have children?”
Cardinal Marx’s comments are part of a growing push within the German Church for changes to the Catechism’s teaching on homosexuality.
Earlier this month, Bishop Georg Bätzing, Cardinal Marx’s successor as chairman of the German bishops’ conference, agreed with a journalist’s assertion that “no one” adhered to the Church’s teaching that sexuality should only be practiced within marriage.
“That’s true,” Bishop Bätzing said. “And we have to somewhat change the Catechism on this matter. Sexuality is a gift from God. And not a sin.”
He was speaking after participants in the German “Synodal Way” voted in favour of draft documents calling for same-sex blessings and the revision of Catholic teaching on homosexuality.
In February, another prominent European Church leader, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, was asked by the German Catholic news agency KNA how he dealt “with the Church teaching that homosexuality is a sin”.
He replied: “I believe that this is wrong. But I also believe that we are thinking ahead in doctrine here. The way the Pope has expressed himself in the past, this can lead to a change in doctrine. Because I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct.”