According to a report from The Irish Times, bishop Christian Stäblein spoke about the church’s previous abuse towards queer congregation members and staff.
Stäblein is the bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg which is part of Germany’s Evangelical Church federation (EKD). During the service, Stäblein discussed the harmful discrimination of LGBTQ+ people that included abusive questioning, dismal from church jobs and forced celibacy.
The prominent religious figure went on to say that he was “appalled by the stigmatisation” that the church inflicted on the queer community. “We excluded them and made them pariahs,” he said. “We have to assume that many more people were harmed by these practices than we are aware of or can document.” Towards the end of