Ludger Schepers (born 18 April 1953) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who has been an auxiliary bishop of Essen since 2008.
Ludger Schepers (born 18 April 1953) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who has been an auxiliary bishop of Essen since 2008.
Ledger Schepers was born on 18 April 1953 in the Osterfeld district of Oberhausen. He graduated from Novalis Gymnasium there and then entered the seminary of the diocese of Essen. He studied theology and philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Freiburg. On 2 March 1979, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Franz Hengsbach. [1]
Schepers worked as a chaplain in St. Boniface parish in Essen-Huttrop and Herz Jesu in Duisburg-Neumühl from 1979 to 1986. From 1986 to 1990 he was a youth pastor in Oberhausen and chaplain at St. Antony in Oberhausen-Alstaden. In August 1990, Schepers became pastor of the parish of St. Jude Thaddeus in Duisburg-Buchholz, into which other parishes were then merged. In 1994, he earned a licentiate in canon law at the University of Münster and in 1995 he became a diocesan judge. In 1999 he was named a member of the Priests' Council and the Church Tax Council of the Diocese of Essen. In 2002 he became dean of the Duisburg-Süd deanery. In 2006, after a reorganization of the parishes in the diocese of Essen, he became the first pastor of the newly founded large parish of St. Jude Thaddeus, which covers the area of the former Duisburg-Süd deanery. [2]
On 27 June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him an auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Essen and titular bishop of Neapolis in Proconsulari. [2] He received his episcopal consecration on 19 September 2008 in Essen Cathedral [3] from Bishop Felix Genn [4] and was named episcopal vicar for universal church and social tasks. He has been resident canon of the chapter of Essen Cathedral since 5 September 2008, with responsibility for church services and pastoral care. [5]
In the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) he is a member of the Pastoral Commission, the Pastoral Commission's sub-group for Women in Church and Society, the World Church Commission, and the sub-commission for mission issues (especially MISSIO), of which he is chairman. [6]
For several years he was the Pastoral Commission's Queer-Beauftragter or Representative to the Queer Community [lower-alpha 1] and has taken outspoken positions on the need for the Church to overhaul its views of sexual minority groups. In September 2022, after the German bishops at the general assembly of the Synodal Way failed to give the necessary two-thirds approval to a position paper on sexual ethics that 80% of the full assembly had endorsed, he criticized bishops who voted in the negative who had not contributed to the debate or raised no other objection than "tradition". He said: "If traditions are not alive, they are just dead letters that have already caused many crimes and... have caused a lot of suffering and continue to do so." [7] He told an interviewer: "Diversity is creation and creation is good." [9] In August 2023 he said he was proud that more than 20 dioceses had initiatives for pastoral care for the queer community and called for discussion of sexuality in relationships, not only in marriage. He also counseled patience and the need to work with the global church. [10] He has also advocated the erection of a female diaconate, [11] noting it has been discussed in Germany for fifty years. [9]
In late February 2024, the DBK appointed Schepers to the new position of Beauftragte für queere Pastoral or Representative for Queer Pastoral Care, [lower-alpha 1] modifying his role from representing the Pastoral Commission to the gay community, giving him responsibility on behalf of the entire DBK, and transforming his mission from communications to coordinating pastoral outreach throughout the nation. [12] In addressing his work leading a national effort for gay and lesbians he said: "The German Church could point out that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality in principle. It should be made clear that traditional values such as responsibility in a partnership and reliability are gender-neutral." [13] [14]
The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which leaders of Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exist between two persons of different sexes. These disagreements are primarily centred on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, sacred tradition, and in some churches on varying understandings of homosexuality in terms of psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While numerous church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.
The Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany is the German member body of the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches, which follow Ultrajectine theology. It is permitted to levy the German church tax on its members. Its episcopal see is in Bonn, as is its theological faculty. Its membership is concentrated around Cologne, Bonn, the Ruhr and southern Baden. The bishop of the diocese is Matthias Ring.
The Catholic Church condemns same-sex sexual activity and denies the validity of same-sex marriage. While the Church opposes "unjust" discrimination against homosexual persons, it supports what it considers "just" discrimination in the employment of teachers or athletic coaches, in adoption, in the military and in housing. The Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a grave sin against chastity and sees homosexual attraction as objectively disordered. However, the Catechism also states that homosexuals "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity". This teaching has developed through papal interventions, and influenced by theologians, including the Church Fathers.
The Diocese of Essen is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany, founded on 1 January 1958. The Bishop of Essen is seated in Essen Cathedral, once the church of Essen Abbey, and over one thousand years old.
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Friedrich Ostermann was an Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster.
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Franz-Josef Hermann Bode is German prelate of the Catholic Church who was bishop of Osnabrück from 1995 to 2023. He has been a bishop since 1991 and Deputy Chairman of the German Bishops Conference since 2017. Within that Conference, he is considered one of the strongest advocates of expanding the role of women in the Church.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany is a Lutheran member church of the Protestant Church in Germany.
Georg Bätzing is a German Catholic theologian who has been Bishop of Limburg since 2016 and chairman of the German Bishops' Conference since March 2020.
The Catholic Church has intervened in political discourses to enact legislative and constitutional provisions establishing marriage as the union of a man and a woman, resisting efforts by civil governments to establish either civil unions or same-sex marriage.
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Heinrich Timmerevers is a German prelate of the Catholic Church. A bishop since 2001, he has been the 50th Bishop of Dresden-Meissen since 2016.
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The Synodal Way was a series of conferences of the Catholic Church in Germany to discuss a range of contemporary religious, spiritual and theological and organizational questions concerning the Catholic Church, as well as gender issues and possible reactions to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in Germany.
Franz Grave was a German Catholic prelate who served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Essen from 1988 until his retirement in 2008. Grave was focused on intercultural dialogue with Latin America, and projects aimed at fighting unemployment and helping young people in difficult situations.
Johannes zu Eltz is a German Catholic priest, who has served as Dean of Frankfurt, and a member of the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Limburg. Trained as a jurist, he became a priest in important parishes in Hesse, Germany. In Frankfurt, he has pursued ecumenism and collaboration with other Christian churches and the Jewish community. He is a member of the Synodal Path, seeking reforms in the Catholic Church.
Christof May was a German Catholic theologian and priest. He worked for the Diocese of Limburg, as Regens of the seminary, as Bischofsvikar responsible for development of the church, and as Domkapitular in the cathedral chapter. He advocated for changes in the Catholic Church.
Hans-Jochen Jaschke was a German Catholic prelate. He was auxiliary bishop of Osnabrück from 1989 to 1994 and of Hamburg from 1994 to 2016. He was responsible for ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue, and represented the Catholic Church in the media.
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