Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx has called for a more positive view of sexuality and a reform of Catholic doctrine relating to it. Sexuality should be seen as a positive “gift of God” that should be shaped to serve humankind and love, the archbishop said at the opening of the exhibition “Damned Lust! Church. Body. Art” at the Freising Diocesan Museum.
Marx said Catholic teaching on sexuality “also represents a Catholic trauma”, in part because it was far too often associated with sin and prohibitions. “Our problem is not the magisterium, but that the magisterium has often taken over issues that don’t belong there at all.”
With regard to the Synodal Path reform project in Germany, Marx referred to the “great discussion about the fact that a basic text on sexuality has not – not yet at any rate – found the two-thirds majority of the bishops”. That said, however, at least 60 percent of the bishops had agreed to a text for reforms of sexual morality which 20 years ago would never have got on the agenda of the German Bishops’ Conference.
Marx also called for a new debate on Catholic sexual teaching in an interview with regional public radio broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk, saying: “For the sake of humankind, it is time to develop a morality and doctrine that serves life and puts the proclamation of God’s love at the forefront of the current debates”.
In the past, theology and the Church had often painted a one-sided negative picture of human sexuality, the cardinal continued. “It has been associated with guilt and sin, which has also led to suppression and double standards.”
In addition, this Church doctrine, often perceived as a one-sided “morality of prohibition” had itself too often lost sight of the actual essence: “The Christian image of humanity wants to open up positive and liberating perspectives even in the most personal and intimate area of human life, both for the life of the individual and for living together”.
Originally reported by KNA Germany.
