The Archdiocese of Hamburg maintains its sexual education program for the fifteen Catholic schools under its jurisdiction while opposition from a group of families continues, having taken the case to Rome. The controversy now adds a new episode: the vicar general, Father Sascha-Philipp Geißler, reportedly asked archdiocesan staff not to respond or “enter into debate” with parents questioning the guidelines.
The instruction appears in an internal communication accessed by La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana. The Italian outlet also reports a second email related to the families’ spokesperson. The communications come after months of complaints from parents and when the program, titled “Masculine, Feminine, Diverse,” is already being implemented.
From parental protests to Rome
The conflict dates back to the sexual education guidelines drawn up by the Archdiocese of Hamburg for its educational centers. The program was officially presented in June 2025 and includes, among other principles, the “acceptance of diversity” regarding sexual orientations and gender identities.
Families grouped in the Network of Parents for the Protection and Prevention of Childhood began questioning the project, considering that some of its approaches did not align with Christian anthropology.
As InfoVaticana reported at the time, representatives of the families met with Archbishop Stefan Hesse in December 2025 and, after failing to reach an agreement, ended up taking their complaints to Rome. In February of this year they approached Leo XIV and subsequently filed a canonical complaint with the Dicastery for Bishops.
The archdiocese proceeded with the guidelines. The framework began to be applied in August in the fifteen Catholic schools and serves as a basis for each center to develop its own curriculum.
Among its approaches is the recognition of different sexual orientations and “gender identities.” When presenting the program, the archdiocese defined it as a proposal for sexual education that is “contemporary, value-oriented, and scientifically grounded.”
The Dicastery refers to the document “Male and Female He Created Them”
The families also approached the Dicastery for Culture and Education. According to the known documentation on the case, the Vatican body responded by referring them to Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education, published in 2019 by the then Congregation for Catholic Education.
The document addresses theories that separate gender identity from the sexual difference between man and woman and proposes criteria for addressing these issues within Catholic education.
The Dicastery’s response did not include an order directed to the Archdiocese of Hamburg to withdraw or suspend its program. The families, however, subsequently requested that the guidelines be reviewed taking into account the document indicated by Rome.
The vicar general asks not to “enter into debate”
The new development now known comes from an internal communication sent by Geißler to archdiocesan staff and published by La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana.
In it, the vicar general reports on the actions of the parents’ network and “expressly recommends not responding or entering into debate” regarding emails sent by the group.
Geißler maintains that the network’s actions seek to generate “insecurity and discord” within school communities and links the group to conservative German sectors.
The vicar general also addresses the Vatican’s intervention. According to the email, the Dicastery responded to the parents’ network but did not contact the Archdiocese of Hamburg, and referred the families to the corresponding Vatican document.
The program, meanwhile, continues to be implemented in the schools.
A second communication regarding the families’ spokesperson
La Nuova Bussola claims to have also consulted another email, sent by Christopher Haep, head of the diocesan Department of School and University, to representatives of the parents.
In that communication, Varinia Arauco Vera, spokesperson for the network of families, is mentioned and linked to Totus Tuus, an association that was dissolved by the then Bishop of Münster, Felix Genn.
According to the information published by the Italian outlet, Arauco Vera never belonged to that organization. The connection allegedly arose from an image used by the spokesperson on WhatsApp that featured the expression “Totus Tuus,” a Marian motto adopted by Saint John Paul II.
The emails come to light when the guidelines are already in force and the families’ complaints have reached various bodies of the Holy See. While the Archdiocese of Hamburg maintains the program in its fifteen schools, the parents continue to demand its review in accordance with the Church’s guidelines on education and sexual difference.