(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Georg Bätzing has claimed that Church doctrine on sexual morality can be “changed for the sake of the people” without losing the “core of Catholicism.”
According to CNA Deutsch, Bätzing also stated at a Monday press conference at the start of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) spring plenary assembly in Würzburg: “I stand by the teachings of the Catholic Church. That is my Church.”
However, these two statements by the former head of the DBK are contradictory.
The bishop said the German Synodal Way is about “genuine participation of the faithful in all actions and decisions in the Church” and “much greater participation of women at all levels,” as well as “the Church’s sexual morality.”
Bätzing said he is convinced that the Church’s teaching on sexuality is “largely ineffective in its current form,” because “people, Catholics, simply ignore it and live their lives.”
READ: German bishops elect new leader who rejected Church teaching on homosexuality
He recalled hearing from people that “the Christian Church’s view of humanity, its view of partnership, its view of sexuality,” is “so guiding that we must take it up positively. But not simply as it exists, but in appreciation for life, ways of life, lifestyles, sexual orientations that are simply given to people by their nature – and I say: by their Creator.”
The German bishop not only contradicts perennial Church doctrine that homosexual desires are disordered and that homosexual acts are intrinsically evil, but also ignores scientific evidence of how people develop homosexual inclinations.
Multiple studies have attempted to prove that there is a “gay gene” that genetically predetermines sexual orientation. However, none of these studies were able to identify such a gene. The authors of a large-scale 2019 study concluded, “It will be basically impossible to predict one’s sexual activity or orientation just from genetics.” The study found that a person’s developmental environment – the influence of diet, family, friends, neighborhood, religion, and a host of other living conditions – was twice as influential as genetics on the probability of adopting same-sex behavior or orientation, and that the genetic influence did not come from one or two strong sources but from dozens of genetic variants that each added a small increased propensity for same-sex behavior.
Bätzing is known for supporting the heretical proposals of the German Synodal Way. He voted in favor of a document of the Synodal Way that calls for the “blessing” of homosexual unions. The prelate also agreed with a document called “Magisterial Reassessment of Homosexuality” that called for a change in perennial Church doctrine. He furthermore voted “yes” on a text that calls for the sacramental ordination of “female deacons.”
Bätzing is the bishop of Limburg and served as head of the German bishops’ Conference from 2020 until 2026. On Tuesday, he was succeeded by Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim, who, like Bätzing, is known for his strong support for the heretical German Synodal Way.
