The liberal rector of the Jesuit college Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, Ansgar Wucherpfennig, is allowed to keep his job. After weeks of discussion, he now received the Vatican's declaration of assurance, which he needs to remain in office, as the news agency dpa reports.
This so-called "Nihil obstat" has now granted the educational congregation in Rome, said the German province of the Jesuits on Thursday in Munich.
In February, Wucherpfennig had been re-elected for a third term at the head of the Theological-Philosophical College, but he had until now been denied the declaration of safety - apparently because he had campaigned for the rights of homosexual church members.
The rector described the biblical condemnations of homosexuality in an interview as "deep-seated, sometimes misunderstood phrases". Because of these liberal statements, the Vatican Wucherpfennig had not yet issued the necessary permission to teach. Even though he had many supporters.
Bishop of Limburg, Georg Bätzing, who was responsible for Sankt Georgen, had supported Wucherpfennig. He had the re-election "unrestricted" agreed, then had a diocesan spokesman said. Bätzing had also made it clear in Rome that "bishopric and Jesuit orders are well advised to stick to the tried and tested university management."
The Frankfurt city dean, Johannes zu Eltz, also criticized the decision of Rome. Nobody was a "louder priest and an incorruptible scientist," said Eltz. "The questioning of his integrity and his completely unjustified punishment hurt me."
According to the German Province, Wucherpfennig has now issued a statement to the Jesuits stressing that "as a religious and priests, he is committed to the authentic teaching of the Church".