Two more German dioceses reject schools document

The Archdiocese of Cologne and the Diocese of Regensburg confirmed Nov. 14 that they agreed with Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau’s detailed critique of the bishops’ conference text, “Created, Redeemed, and Loved – Visibility and recognition of the diversity of sexual identities in schools.”
Oster argued in a Nov. 10 analysis that the document, issued by the bishops’ conference’s commission for education and schools, marked a departure from the traditional Catholic understanding of the human person.
The Cologne archdiocese, led by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, said it endorsed Oster’s commentary on the text, particularly regarding the document’s “anthropological and theological implications.”
The Regensburg diocese said that its Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, a professor of dogmatic theology, “concurs with Bishop Oster’s assessment.”
In comments on the sidelines of the Nov. 14-15 plenary assembly of the State Committee of Catholics in Bavaria, Voderholzer also voiced procedural criticisms. …