The Commission for Marriage and Family of the German Bishops' Conference held a specialist consultation on the subject of “Human sexuality - how to discuss it scientifically and theologically and assess it in church terms”, which ended last night (December 4, 2019) in Berlin. The starting point for the consultation is the Synodal Way of the Church in Germany. Already in the preparation phase there was a forum that dealt with questions of sexual morality. With the consultation, the commission wanted to make a contribution to discuss the topic from a sexual medicine, theological, anthropological and moral theological point of view and the state of the ecclesiastical teaching office on questions of sexual morality, as well as to shed light on the history and background of Catholic sex education. The meeting in Berlin was held in conjunction with that of Prof. Dr. Andreas Lob-Hüdepohl organized the Berlin Institute for Christian Ethics and Politics (ICEP). Archbishop Dr. Heiner Koch (Berlin), Bishop Dr. Franz-Josef Bode (Osnabrück), Bishop Wolfgang Ipolt (Görlitz), Bishop Dr. Peter Kohlgraf (Mainz) as well as several auxiliary bishops from the Faith and Family Commission, who discussed with sex doctors, moral theologians, dogmatists and church lawyers.
The Chairman of the Family Commission, Archbishop Dr. Heiner Koch, emphasized that the Synodal Path should be started impartially and without any fixed positions, but by no means without knowledge of the state of the art. There was consensus on the question that human sexuality encompasses a dimension of lust, reproduction and relationship. There was also agreement that the sexual preference of humans is expressed in puberty and assumes a hetero- or homosexual orientation. Both are normal forms of sexual predisposition that cannot or should not be changed by any specific socialization. In the Church's deliberations, this means that any form of discrimination against homosexual people must be rejected, as has been required for a long time as a teacher and is also explicitly emphasized by Pope Francis in the post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia. However, the question of whether the teaching ban on practiced homosexuality is still up-to-date, as well as the question of the permissibility of using artificial contraceptives in marriage and in the case of unmarried couples, was controversial.
Two members of the German language group of the Roman Synod of Bishops in October 2015, Archbishop Koch and Bishop Bode, emphasized the importance of a solid discussion supported by human sciences and theology and highlighted the developments that can already be seen in Amoris laetitia. For example, a sexual relationship after divorce and remarriage is no longer generally classified as a serious sin, and therefore no more general exclusion from reception of the Eucharist is provided.
The results of the specialist consultation will flow into the forum of the Synodal Path "Living in Successful Relationships - Love Living in Sexuality and Partnership", which will start its work in February 2020.