About 800,000 people work in the church in Germany, which has changed its labor laws so that those who are gay or who remarry after divorce cannot be fired.
Engagement: 0
The Catholic Church in Germany has announced major changes to its labor laws to end gender discrimination.
Last year, about 125 employees of the Catholic Church united in protest to end the church’s laws against discrimination against homosexuals, nearly a year after the church on Tuesday announced a layoff. Announced a change in his law.
Under the current rules and regulations, Catholic Church employees could lose their jobs if they came out as gay or remarried after a divorce.
But on Tuesday, the German bishops’ conference announced, “Clearly, as never before, diversity is recognized as an improvement even in church institutions.”
The declaration added that “all employees are free to perform their substantive duties, regardless of their origin, their religion, their age, their disability, their gender, their sexual identity and their lifestyle”. There may be representatives of the church who “serve the people.”
It added that “as long as these people have a positive attitude towards the message of the Holy Gospel and respect for the Christian character” they are authorized to do so.
Pressure for reform
The Central Committee of German Catholics said the move had been under consideration for several days. The Catholic women’s community in Germany hailed the reforms as a “milestone”.
But Thomas Schuller, an expert on customary law, told the German news agency dpa that the church made the decision “because of the state’s labor courts,” which have long ruled the church over personal lifestyles. Labor was raising questions about prioritizing the law.
Christian Wessner of We’re Church, a church advocacy group, welcomed the move but said it was “probably due to a lack of staff.”
