International weddings in Treptow: Pastor sees diversity as an opportunity!

International weddings in Treptow: Pastor sees diversity as an opportunity!

In Berlin, the diversity in marriages is becoming increasingly visible. Catholic.de reports from Mathias Laminski, the senior pastor of the parish of St. Josef Treptow-Köpenick, who has been working in this position for ten years. From January 2025 he will also be appointed deputy vicar general in the Archdiocese of Berlin. Laminski is particularly responsible for overall pastoral care and queer-sensitive pastoral care and offers an open ear for couples from different backgrounds.

The Church of St. Joseph is very popular with those wishing to get married. Picturesquely located on the Spree, it offers a garden for receptions and attracts between eight and 15 couples every year who want to tie the knot there. These are often international weddings in which either a Catholic and a Protestant or non-denominational partner gets married. The ceremony itself is usually no different from German weddings, only the language may vary, with Laminski having celebrated weddings in several languages, including Italian and Portuguese.

Challenges at international weddings

Despite Laminski's positive experiences with the office in Berlin, couples face some challenges, particularly when it comes to bureaucracy. The paperwork, including obtaining baptismal certificates, is often complicated. For partners who are already married, the validity of the first marriage must also be checked, which raises additional hurdles. The church records in Berlin go back to 1898 and are also used for genealogy research, which is of interest to many couples.

Laminski sees weddings not only as a legal act, but also as an opportunity to bring a diverse community together and present the image of the church as open and welcoming.

Queer-sensitive pastoral care in the church

The introduction of queer-sensitive pastoral care that takes into account the needs of queer people is becoming increasingly important. Loud Gender.Kiho-Wuppertal This form of pastoral care takes into account the experiences and challenges that queer people experience due to discrimination. In her book, Kerstin Söderblom has published the first drafts of queer-sensitive pastoral care in German-speaking countries and highlights important points such as the need for transparent communication and the creation of a safe place for conversations.

It is also essential to deal with biblical texts that should be contextualized historically and culturally. Queer-sensitive pastoral care strives to value the queerness of people and to adequately represent it in church services. In this context, the visibility of queer-friendly symbols in the community is also discussed.

The term “queer” itself has had an interesting development. It was originally used as a swear word, but in the 1980s and 1990s it established itself as a programmatic term of resistance against heteronormative structures. Loud Diocese of Mainz The term shows itself to be hybrid and fragmentary, which reflects the diversity of queer identities.

Laminski and many of his colleagues in the church are working to advance these developments and create an atmosphere in which all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or identity, are accepted and valued.