(OPINION) Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Bishops Conference of the European Union, maintains the church’s teaching on homosexuality is wrong and should be changed. The comments by Hollerich, a Jesuit, came during an interview with KNA, a German Catholic news agency.
The Catholic News Service said Hollerich considers the church’s assessment of homosexuality as sinful to be incorrect. “I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct,” Hollerich said. He called for a fundamental revision of church teaching, and noted the way Pope Francis has talked about homosexuality could spark a change in the doctrine.
Hollerich is president of the pan-European grouping of Catholic bishops’ conferences, known as COMECE. In the KNA interview, Hollerich was asked for his assessment of a campaign in which about 125 Catholic Church employees in Germany, including some priests, came out as LGBTQ, and about the Church’s teachings on homosexuality.
In another part Hollerich said: “I think it’s time we make a fundamental revision of the doctrine”. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not a sin, but homosexual acts are.
Hollerich, who did not elaborate on what aspects of the teaching he felt needed revision, said: “I also believe that we are thinking ahead in terms of doctrine. The way the pope has expressed himself in the past can lead to a change in doctrine.”
