German Catholic congress approves bondage group's booth
The Würzburg Catholic Congress has approved the participation of the Ecumenical Working Group BDSM and Christianity, allowing them to set up a booth at the event. Organizers stated that the group's guidelines contain no contradiction with the Catechism and that Christian‑referenced organizations are permitted unless they are unconstitutional or hostile to specific groups. The working group, founded in 1999, has previously exhibited at Catholic Congresses, including the 2024 event in Erfurt. The congress is organized by the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) and is a biennial gathering led by laypeople.
5 months ago
The German Catholic Congress in Würzburg has approved a booth for an ecumenical group that promotes consensual BDSM culture, while also rejecting several pro‑life panel proposals despite the presence of a pro‑life organization’s booth. The decision highlights the Congress’s policy of allowing a wide range of Christian‑referenced organizations, provided they do not conflict with constitutional or Church teachings.
The 104th German Catholic Congress (Katholikentag) runs from May 13‑17 2026 in Würzburg under the motto “Have Courage, Stand Up!” Around 20,000 participants are expected across ≈ 900 events in ≈ 50 venues 1 2. The exhibition area, the Kirchenmeile (“Church Mile”), hosts roughly 300 organizations, with the BDSM group listed as stand MW‑R‑07 1 2.
An ecumenical working group called “BDSM and Christianity” seeks to present “consensual BDSM culture.” Founded in 1999, the group previously exhibited at the 2024 Congress in Erfurt 1 2.
Cosima Jagow‑Duda, head of press and marketing for the Congress, stated that the group’s guidelines “contain no contradiction with the Catechism” and that any Christian‑referenced organization may participate if it is not unconstitutional or hostile to specific groups 1 2.
The group’s website describes its members as Christians from various denominations who address eroticism and sadomasochistic preferences, affirming belief in Jesus Christ and aiming to move the topic “out of the taboo corner” 1 2.
The Kirchenmeile also includes groups whose positions differ from official Catholic teaching on sexuality, such as the Network of Catholic Lesbians, the LGBT initiative #OutInChurch, and the Ecumenical Working Group Homosexuals and Church 1 2.
The official program lists a “Queer worship service” (May 16) titled “Life is colorful — diversity in the Church?!” and a Bible workshop “Reading the Bible queerly. Why G*D is a fan of diversity” 1 2.
The Congress’s panel schedule accepted only 40 topics. Three proposals from the Action for the Right to Life for All (ALfA) – on surrogacy, abortion, and end‑of‑life care – were declined, with organizers citing “capacity grounds” 1 2.
Despite the rejections, ALfA retains a booth in the “Social Cohesion” area and will hold parallel events, including lectures on end‑of‑life autonomy and international surrogacy, and a discussion with Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer 1 2.
One assisted‑suicide panel, “Quo Vadis Assisted Suicide? General Regulations and Individual Wishes,” will feature SPD parliamentarian Lars Castellucci and Caritas president Eva Maria Welskop‑Deffaa 1 2.
The Catechism states that sexual pleasure is “morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes” (No. 2351) and defines chastity as the “integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift” realized in the lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman (Nos. 2337‑2339). Consent alone does not change the moral character of an act 1 2.
Jagow‑Duda emphasized that the Kirchenmeile’s application process excludes right‑wing extremist or anti‑democratic groups and that the program seeks a “diversity of opinions” while prohibiting discriminatory, racist, antisemitic, or misanthropic content 1 2.
ALfA spokesperson Cornelia Kaminski affirmed the organization’s commitment to protecting human life and highlighted the Congress as a venue for dialogue on life‑and‑dignity issues 1 2.
Examine Catholic doctrine on sexual diversity and lay participation
Catholic doctrine treats “sexual diversity” through two inseparable lenses: the dignity of persons (including persons with same-sex attraction) and the Church’s conviction that sexual acts must conform to the moral purposes of sexuality. In parallel, the Church teaches that lay faithful—by baptism—have a real, mission-based role in proclaiming the Gospel and shaping pastoral life, including in matters that touch human sexuality.
The Catechism grounds sexual ethics in the equal personal dignity of man and woman: God “gives personal dignity equally to the one and the other,” and each person should “acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.”
This matters doctrinally because the Church distinguishes:
The Church’s practical pastoral stance follows from that distinction: even when someone lives in moral struggle, pastoral care should be ordered to truth, not merely to affirmation of every life choice.
The Catechism defines lust as “disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure,” and teaches that sexual pleasure is morally disordered when it is sought “for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.”
Key terms, simplified:
So, Catholic doctrine approaches sexual diversity not first by re-labeling experiences (“identity language”), but by evaluating whether specific sexual actions harmonize with the moral purposes of sexuality.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1986 instruction on homosexual persons emphasizes that bishops should ensure “the teaching of the Lord and his Church” is communicated fully, while also developing “appropriate forms of pastoral care” for homosexual persons.
It explicitly encourages pastoral care that can include “assistance of the psychological, sociological and medical sciences,” while remaining “in full accord with the teaching of the Church.”
It also stresses the importance of pastoral ministers’ spiritual and personal maturity and fidelity to the Magisterium, explicitly rejecting pastoral approaches based on “theological opinions which dissent from the teaching of the Church.”
Finally, it calls for “appropriate catechetical programmes based on the truth about human sexuality” and in relationship to “the family as taught by the Church,” including support for families who are affected.
Doctrinal implication: the Church’s pastoral goal is not only emotional support; it is support ordered to conversion, truth, and integration within Catholic moral teaching.
A key contemporary point of controversy concerns “blessings” requested for same-sex unions. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s press release on Fiducia supplicans clarifies several boundaries.
The press release notes that in some countries, “laws that condemn the mere act of declaring oneself as a homosexual” can involve severe harm; in such cases, “it goes without saying that a blessing would be imprudent.”
It adds that bishops should not expose homosexual persons to violence, but also insists the episcopal strategy must not become doctrinally divergent: episcopal conferences must not “support a doctrine different from that of the Declaration… [which] is perennial doctrine.”
The same document clarifies catechetically: blessings given in these situations are “not an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
It stresses: such gestures are “far from being a sacrament or a rite,” and are “simple expressions of pastoral closeness.”
It further explains that ministers are not “consecrating,” “congratulating,” or “approving” the union when blessing two people who ask spontaneously.
Doctrinal implication: Catholic pastoral gestures toward persons are treated as distinct from sacramental recognition or moral approval of the relationship as such.
Vatican II teaches that the laity are made part of the People of God through baptism and share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions “in their own way,” carrying out the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and the world.
A defining characteristic is their secular nature: by vocation, they “seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs” and by ordering them according to God’s plan—so they may work for sanctification “from within as a leaven.”
Further, Vatican II explicitly grounds lay apostolate as participation in the Church’s salvific mission itself: lay persons are “commissioned” by the Lord “through their baptism and confirmation.”
Christifideles Laici emphasizes that the lay vocation is not limited to clerical or religious roles; it calls lay faithful to active participation in the Church’s mission.
Pope Francis likewise insists that ordained ministers are not the only evangelizers; each Christian, by baptism, is a “missionary disciple,” and the reform of structures should make provision for lay women and men, including involvement in roles of government and responsibility—because their presence and participation are “essential.”
He also rejects the idea that laypersons are outsiders: “The lay faithful are not ‘guests’ in the Church; it is their home.”
In the same context, Francis warns that formation of laypersons must be “directed towards mission, not just towards theories,” and he calls “ideology in the Church” a “terrible scourge.”
The practical implication for a parish is that lay involvement in sensitive topics (including sexual diversity and pastoral care) should be rooted in:
Bringing these strands together, Catholic doctrine implies a specific pastoral logic:
Catholic teaching on sexual diversity combines affirmation of equal human dignity and sexual identity with moral evaluation of sexual acts according to the procreative and unitive purposes of sexuality. At the same time, the Church teaches that lay faithful—by baptism—are essential co-workers in the Church’s mission, including in pastoral formation and public witness, so long as lay participation is formed for mission and faithful to doctrine, not shaped by ideology or doctrinal disagreement.