On Monday, more than a hundred Catholic church leaders in Germany came out as LGBT, queer, or non-binary, adding to cries for reform within the church's crisis.
The uproar over claims of widespread child sex abuse by Catholic bishops in Germany, including allegations of incidents where previous Pope Benedict XVI refused to act, has coincided with demands for a more liberal attitude toward homosexuality within the German church.
The 125-member organization, which includes priests and educators and administrators, issued a statement calling for an end to the "discrimination and marginalization" they'd faced.
"I don't want to hide my sexual identity anymore," Uwe Grau, a priest in the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, was quoted on the group's website as saying.
"The statement called for "free access to all pastoral vocations", and an end to what the signatories called a "system of concealment, double standards, and dishonesty" surrounding LGBT issues.
The issue of homosexuality has caused a major rift in the Catholic Church between modernisers and conservatives.
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