Aachen Bishop Helmut Dieser walks to the cathedral. Henning Kaiser/dpa
One of Germany’s most progressive Catholic bishops has described homosexuality as “God’s will,” saying in an interview that he had changed his opinion on the matter.
“Homosexuality is not a glitch on God’s part, but God’s will to the same extent as creation itself,” Helmut Dieser, the bishop of Aachen, told the weekly publication Christ & Welt.
“Yes, my view has changed,” he added.
The Catholic Church has traditionally regarded homosexuality as a sin. Today, the church claims that the disposition itself is not yet a transgression, but that homosexuality must not be acted upon.
Last year, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reiterated that it was not permitted for Catholic clerics to bless homosexual partnerships.
Dieser said he was aware that Rome still interpreted homosexuality as a sin, adding that the very concept was questionable.
“When it comes to love, this variety of love, which is an erotic form, when the body becomes an expression of this love and the language of this love, then I think: love cannot be sin,” he said in the interview.
Whether a priest in his diocese blesses homosexual couples is a personal decision of conscience. This is also the case Dieser’s Roman Catholic diocese of Aachen.
