Parents of students at Catholic schools in the German archdiocese of Hamburg have been waiting nearly six months for a response from Rome after asking Pope Leo XIV to intervene against the new sex education guidelines promoted by Archbishop Stefan Hesse. The families denounce that the program introduces from early ages content on gender identity and sexual diversity incompatible with Catholic teaching and, in the absence of a response, have also filed a canonical complaint with the Dicastery for Bishops. The guidelines will begin to be applied next August 20 in 15 Catholic schools.
According to Nico Spuntoni in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, the families have organized into a Network for the Protection and Prevention of Childhood after learning of a program that, they claim, was developed without prior consultation with parents. The document, titled “Masculine, Feminine, Diverse,” had already provoked criticism for incorporating approaches on gender identity, homosexuality, and diversity of family models in sex education at Catholic schools in Hamburg.
Parents denounce sex education contrary to Catholic teaching
The families maintain that the new guidelines promote the premature sexualization of children and adolescents and present issues related to sexuality and identity from premises incompatible with Christian anthropology.
Among their main objections are the use of interactive sex education methods from the early years of primary school, collaboration with organizations and activists specialized in this area, and the lack of clarity regarding parents’ right to exclude their children from activities related to LGBT content.
They also question that the program presents the acceptance of different gender identities as part of student formation and places different models of family coexistence alongside marriage and the Christian family.
A direct petition to Leo XIV
The parents say they had previously tried to open a dialogue with the archdiocese. After several requests, family representatives were received by Hesse in December 2025, but the meeting did not produce substantial changes in the program.
In February they decided to turn directly to Rome. The network sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV, delivered through the apostolic nuncio in Germany, in which they set out their main objections and expressly asked the Pontiff to “stop this initiative” and help them “protect the faith and the purity of our children.”
In their letter, the families also conveyed particular concern about immigrant Catholics. As they explained to the Pope, some of them no longer perceive the German Catholic Church as “their home” in the face of educational programs that conflict with the religious convictions for which they chose a Catholic school for their children.
Nearly six months later, the parents continue to receive no response to their request.
A canonical complaint before the Dicastery for Bishops
Faced with Rome’s silence and the proximity of the guidelines’ entry into force, the families took a new step about two months ago and filed a canonical complaint against Hesse before the Dicastery for Bishops, currently presided over by Monsignor Filippo Iannone.
The Archbishop of Hamburg has already been involved in other controversies within the German Church. In 2019 he endorsed a book favorable to blessings for homosexual couples and, subsequently, his request to reopen the debate on the priestly ordination of women.
Hesse also submitted his resignation in 2021 after a report on the handling of sexual abuse in Cologne pointed to errors committed during his time as vicar general. The Vatican acknowledged “deficiencies in the organization” and “procedural errors,” but Francis decided to keep him at the head of Hamburg.
Now, time is working against the families. If no change occurs, the new sex education guidelines will begin to be applied on August 20 in the 15 Catholic schools of the archdiocese. The parents who have appealed to Leo XIV and the Dicastery for Bishops continue to await a response from Rome.