The Archdiocese of Hamburg, Germany, has issued comprehensive guidelines for sex education in its Catholic schools which respect sexuality and gender diversity, and are designed to empower students in the formation of their consciences.
In a press statement, Fr. Sascha-Philipp Geißler, the archdiocese’s Vicar General, said the new framework “is an important step toward developing attitudes, establishing justice in our schools, and strengthening teachers and all educational staff.”
He added:
“We advocate a relationship-ethically grounded view of love, partnership, marriage, family, and sexuality. We advocate for the acceptance of diversity in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity. And we advocate for a life-affirming and, in this sense, positive view of sexuality.”
Entitled “Male, Female, and Diverse: Framework for Sexual Education in Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Hamburg,” this guidance will “be implemented at all 15 Catholic school locations in Hamburg starting in the 2026/2027 school year and will be regularly evaluated in order to safeguard and further develop the impact of the framework concept,” said the press release.
Designed to provide a “contemporary”, “gender-sensitive approach” to sex education where sex is not viewed negatively, the concepts aspire towards forming the consciences of students while providing parents and teachers the tools to fulfill their “education mandate.”
Of special significance to LGBTQ+ Catholics is the framework’s anthropology, which recognizes that being made in God’s image, humans are made for the same relational plurality as the Trinitarian community of God’s self, where a “life given by God cannot be about a norm that applies to all, but rather about the development of the diversity of difference.”
The moral component of the framework fosters a “gender-equitable relationship ethic” that guides young people “towards responsibility before God and their neighbor.” Importantly, the framework measures the morality of a sexual act by it’s relational context, rather than measuring the morality of relationships by their sexual acts.
Thematically, the framework revolves around six principles:
- Equality and Diversity
- Holistic sex education
- Promoting relationship skills
- Scientific foundation and Christian view of humanity
- Prevention and protection
- Critical judgment
Archdiocesan educational leaders praised the new frameworks, with Friederike Mizdalski, Head of the Religious Education in Schools Department, saying that the archdiocese is “positioning itself as a pioneer for forward-looking sexual education that combines Christian values with openness and respect.”
Similarly, Dr. Christopher Haep, Head of the School and University Department, praised the framework’s pedagogical focus, as enabling individual schools to develop their own curriculum and become “safe places where sexuality is not taboo, but is recognized in its complexity and dignity.”
Acknowledging the difficulty of justifying the Church’s sexual teaching to young people, Haep added that “Perspectives and value systems have changed in recent decades – and in this respect, we too must be able to provide contemporary answers to the questions of children and young people.”
That tension is referenced in the framework document itself. Referring to a much older document produced by the German bishops’ conference, the framework reads:
“This gap between church and youth was already addressed in 1999 in a letter from the German Bishops’ Youth Commission to those responsible for youth work [which stated]: ‘The church, as an institution providing guidance, has experienced a loss of credibility and trust. Young people, in particular, are faced with the task of taking responsibility for shaping their own lives and thus also for developing a subjective horizon of meaning in the process of individualization. Everyday life experiences and church norms seem difficult to reconcile.’”
In the press statement, Geißler emphasized that the framework in no way represented a “new theology.” One portion of the framework outlines the conceptual starting place of a Catholic Christology and Anthropology as they pertain to sex and gender, and outlines a moral theological approach to teaching sexuality.
Learning about sex, when “inspired by the gospel,” the framework says, “takes place in the light of love of God, love of neighbor, and self-live.” The Christology of the gospels conveys to us that Jesus “unconditionally recognized every human being”; was liberating in his interactions with others, particularly sexual minorities with whom he “[transformed] norms and role assignments”; and as St. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28, Jesus overcomes “hierarchical patriarchal structures.”
These developments in a major German archdiocese are an encouraging sign for LGBTQ+ Catholics as they present a workable framework for Catholic LGBTQ+ affirmation, and promise to have a transformative impact on the next generation of Catholics who benefit from this inclusive and rigorous approach to Catholic sexual ethics.
—Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, September 4, 2025