(LifeSiteNews) – Pro-LGBT Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen, Germany, who serves as the queer representative of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), slammed in a recent interview the four bishops who recently made a public act of reparation for the Vatican LGBT pilgrimage during this year’s Catholic Identity Conference (CIC).
In an interview with the German Catholic News Agency (KNA) published October 10, Schepers called the act of reparation “shameful” and a “scandalous sign” of the “narrowmindedness” within the Church and suggested that the Church should make reparation for its purported ill treatment of those who identify as “LGBT Catholics.” On October 4, during the CIC, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan; Bishop Joseph Strickland, bishop emeritus of Tyler, Texas; Bishop Marian Eleganti, emeritus auxiliary bishop of Chur, Switzerland; and Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, auxiliary of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, led millions of faithful in praying an act of reparation for the “blasphemous” LGBT pilgrimage followed by the holy rosary.
“(The act of reparation was) a scandalous sign of church narrow-mindedness and an open rejection of all those who long for a church that really lives the gospel,” Schepers said.
“(The prayer was) not an act of faith, but an act of exclusion – an attempt to make queer people and their presence invisible in the faith,” he added.
The bishops’ act of reparation was offered in response to September’s a Vatican-approved LGBT pilgrimage for the jubilee year, organized by “La Tenda di Gionata” (“The Tent of Jonathan”), a pro-LGBT group that has falsely claimed that Scripture does not condemn homosexual relationships, and joined by Father James Martin’s Outreach saw more than 1,000 “LGBT pilgrims” visit the Vatican.
During the pilgrimage, the group led by a rainbow cross, many with their same-sex “partners,” dressed in rainbow colors with some waving “LGBT pride” flags, processed through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. One photo showed an unidentified pilgrim wearing a backpack that said “F*** the rules.”
WATCH: Thousands of ‘LGBT Catholics’ process into St. Peter’s Basilica for Jubilee Year pilgrimage
“(The pilgrimage was) not only tragic, it was a blasphemous event in one of the most holy places of Christianity, which is the Basilica of St. Peter, the tomb of the Apostle St. Peter, and used as a promotion for legitimizing sodomy and other connotations with the tacit consent of the Holy See,” Bishop Schneider previously told LifeSiteNews. “This is so grievous that it cannot be left without asking God for forgiveness and reparation and expiation.”
Storm Heaven! Pray and share the full text of the Act of Reparation for the “LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage” in St. Peter’s Basilica, lead by Bishops Schneider, Strickland, Elenganti and Mutsaerts at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 4, 2025:
Act of Reparation… pic.twitter.com/oYirVZj2jc
— Michael J. Matt (@Michael_J_Matt) October 5, 2025
Schepers, on the other hand, told KNA it is the Church that needs to make reparation for its purported mistreatment of so-called “queer believers.”
“There is no need for reparations for queer believers. True reparation lies ahead for the church itself – for the wounds it has inflicted on queer people for decades,” the bishop said. “The Church cannot credibly speak of love as long as it rejects people who love.”
While same-sex attraction is not considered sinful in itself, the Catholic Church formally condemns homosexual activity and urges homosexuals to live a chaste lifestyle.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and “contrary to the natural law.” The text is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity.” Homosexual acts are also mortal sins; therefore, anyone who commits these sins and does not repent through the sacrament of confession is in danger of hell.
Neither the Catholic Church nor the four bishops who made the act of reparation were condemning individuals with same-sex attraction as Schepers seems to suggest but rather made reparation for the pilgrimage, which blatantly promoted sodomy.
The auxiliary bishop of Essen also expressed his wish for the Church to embrace diversity and not exclude LGBT individuals.
“I dream of a Church that finally understands: Diversity is not a problem but a gift,” Schepers said. “A Church that no longer makes anyone small but rather big, a Church that truly believes that God’s love applies without conditions – to everyone, without exception. Because whoever excludes humans excludes Christ himself.”
While it’s true that God loves everyone, including those who identify as LGBT, as the Church has consistently taught, that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for sins, let alone sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance.
In contrast to Schepers, several prominent Catholic prelates have come out in support of the four bishops’ act of reparation at the CIC and called for more acts of reparation from the faithful.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, recently praised the act of reparation for the Vatican’s LGBT pilgrimage, which he noted was a serious “offense against God.” Zen also suggested that after the mid-autumn festival, the Chinese faithful should “gather with neighboring parishioners for three days to recite the attached prayers (of reparation).”
READ: Cardinal Zen condemns LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ in St. Peter’s Basilica: ‘Offense against God’
“Additionally, perform an act of self-denial or a charitable deed to offer reparation before God for the sins of our erring brothers and sisters,” he concluded.
Bishop Schepers is no stranger to promoting the LGBT movement. In February 2021, he wrote a foreword to Bishop Peter Kohlgraf’s book containing blessings and rites for same-sex unions. The next year, Schepers became the first German bishop to attend a same-sex “blessing” while they were still banned by the Vatican.
In 2024, the bishop commissioned 13 women who had completed a 3 1/2-year training program with the “Women’s Diaconate Network” to be “deacons in the spirit,” despite the Church’s perennial teaching that only men can receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Only a month later, Schepers criticized Catholic teaching for “assuming there is only man and only woman,” and demanded that the Church change its infallible doctrine.
READ: German bishop attacks Church teaching on there being only two sexes
