The Old Catholic pastor Peter Priller talks about homosexuals in the church and the abuse scandal.
He himself was suspended and excommunicated by the Roman Church 27 years ago.
Bad Tölz
– The allegations against the Roman Catholic Church are getting louder and more overwhelming: child abuse, oppression of women, discrimination against “queer” people, i.e. people who deviate from the norm in their sexual orientation or gender identity, such as homosexual, bisexual or transgender.
Shortly after the abuse report, 125 church employees came out as queer in the unprecedented “Out In Church – For a Church without Fear” campaign.
About 27 years ago, the theologian and then Tölz chaplain Peter Priller (60) found out about his employer's uncompromising attitude towards people living differently.
He was suspended because of his homosexual relationship.
Today he is the pastor of the Old Catholic branch parish in Bad Tölz and works for the Munich AIDS organization.
Tölzer came out as gay almost 30 years ago in the Roman Catholic Church - with consequences
Mr. Priller, you embarked on the career of a Roman Catholic priest, but in 1995 you came out with a relationship with a man. What happened then?
I had two conversations with Cardinal Wetter.
At first he was very level-headed and wanted to sleep on it.
Then there were talks with the vicar general and the personnel officer.
Finally, the pressure increased.
And how?
First, my salary, which was not lavish anyway, was reduced.
Initially at 80 and then at 60 percent.
What should it achieve?
I'm ending my relationship.
I have broken celibacy and lived in sin as a homosexual according to the Church.
So as long as everything stays under wraps and you ended your relationship, everything could have gone on as before?
I agree.
Then no one outside would have known.
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Peter Priller lives in Bad Tölz and campaigns for the interests of homosexuals in rural areas.
© Arndt Pröhl
Have you experienced internal discrimination because of your sexual orientation?
Indirectly yes.
After all, you get the official doctrine on the subject of same-sex love.
Personally, no one has ever approached me about it.
But I kept it a secret for a long time - as many people still have to do today.
They were subsequently suspended. Did you expect this?
The fear was there.
But of course it wasn't easy when it happened.
It was much worse for me that I was excommunicated for joining the Old Catholic Church - the absolute maximum penalty.
And that's what it felt like - like a violent mental slap.
Peter Priller: "As an individual you jump over the blade"
Do you think the time is right for employees to come out and tell their stories just a few days after the abuse report?
That's nifty.
It is absolutely essential that many go public.
It has been kept secret long enough.
Now the reaction of the church will certainly be a little more cautious.
I wish the movement had existed 30 years ago, I would have been there for sure.
At that time I was alone, and as an individual you jump over the blade in the system.
The abuse report reveals that cases of child abuse have been condoned. But not your homosexuality...
Of course, everyone affected feels doubly discriminated against.
You just can't think of anything anymore.
Not even to the completely wrong "justification" of the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who mitigates a case of abuse by saying that the perpetrator did not touch the child, but "only" masturbated in front of him.
Yes, tell me, where are we?!
Do you understand that many are now leaving the Church?
Absolutely.
But that applies to religion as a whole.
People turn away and then don't come to another church.
The Church per se is no longer credible.
It has lost the trust of many believers, and others are leaving because the sense of faith is no longer there.
The harm is for everyone.
It is most blatant in the Roman Church, because it has always sat on a very high horse.
But just pointing fingers at them I think is wrong, and that would be self-righteous too.
Peter Priller comments on the cases of abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and the queer movement
What advice would you give to someone who is going through a crisis of faith?
I think it's important to differentiate whether it's about faith or external institutional issues.
But of course there are connections.
Otherwise you can't give a general answer.
Pastoral care is something individual.
What I would recommend to one person, I might not recommend to another.
Is a modern lifestyle even compatible with Church membership?
Some set themselves up and can do it.
For me there would be no way back – alone internally.
What path do you see for the Roman Catholic Church now?
The Roman Church has walled itself in a prison: It has set up dogmas – that is, statements of faith that must be considered absolutely true – which, according to its principles, may no longer be revoked.
All these dogmas solidify a system from which one can hardly get out, from sexual morality to questions of office to an understanding of the papacy.
The first thing the church needs to do now is be authentic and open.
This applies to all churches.
Which dogmas should be questioned first?
To the point of revoking dogmas I dare not think.
But there are several axioms that are not even defined as tenets of belief that should have been abandoned long ago, as many other churches have done.
For example, the principle that any sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman should be a sin.
That's not true.
The church must finally see natural and human scientific findings, not close its eyes to the fact that homosexuality is something natural.
And she cannot appeal to the Old or New Testament while clinging to it.
The Bible says nothing about homosexuality as we understand it.
The supposed passages never refer to a cohabitation of two men or two women who share their life together,
Did Peter Demmelmair react correctly in his sermon to address the abuse report?
He has to distance himself as a pastor on site.
This is the only way to maintain the credibility of the local church.
These days I do not envy my classmate Demmelmair, nor any other Roman Catholic brother who honestly does his work year in, year out and struggles for the good cause.
It's definitely more frustrating for them than it is for me, who has some distance to it.
Cardinal Marx's statement, on the other hand, is too weak for me.
He says nothing new, and that after a week.
If you take that long, I would have expected something earth-shattering.
The interview was conducted by Felicitas Bogner.
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