“Catholic and protestant churches far apart”

Berlin Archbishop Koch sees major differences between Catholic and Protestant churches in dealing with homosexual couples. Rejecting same-sex marriage, however, is not discrimination, she said, but differentiation.

In the Protestant Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO), homosexual couples will soon also be able to walk down the aisle at marriage. It is now the fourth of a total of 20 national churches where homosexuals are allowed to marry. Against this background, the Archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, has now made it clear once again that the Catholic and Protestant views are very far apart on this point. He is also in active exchange with the Protestant Bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz, Markus Droge, on this topic, Archbishop Koch told our site.

Relationship between husband and wife designed to last a lifetime

"For us in the Catholic Church, marriage, the relationship between a man and a woman, is designed to last a lifetime and is open to the transmission of life." This has nothing to do with discrimination, but with differentiation, the archbishop stressed. In creation, in which God created man and woman in the image of his love, everything is laid out. This, he said, is a reality of faith and a sacred reality.

"Marriage for Protestant Church rather secular"

"For me, this is not just about some way of life, but about a mystery of faith and the closeness of God in a community. Marriage and family are for us in the Catholic Church lived, given by God, sacramentally real church," Koch continued. The Protestant Church has a completely different view. Marriage, they say, is a secular matter for them, where they would come to quite different conclusions in specific ethical areas and blessings.

"We cannot share those," concluded the Berlin archbishop. It is evident that there are differences on these ies, not only in cultural and historical matters, but also in theological questions of the doctrine of creation, the doctrine of the sacraments, and the understanding of the church.