Sexual freedom can cause pain. This shows the case of two seniors with dementia staying in the Nursing Home in the Olpe district. They fell in love with each other. They visited at night. They slept in the same room. And “enjoyed their community,” as Carina Tauber reports, responsible for care services. Only they were both in marriage. The wife of a man staying in the center learned about her husband's betrayal. “At first she was desperate and hurt,” says Tauber. His wife was difficult to watch her husband's affair. She would like to end it.
However, the care team did not feel strong enough to do it. Apparently they did not want to place a couple in love with dementia in various departments or in various homes, because the romance did them well. Instead, they protected the meeting place and placed a plaque on the door with the inscription “Do not disturb”. Tauber admits that for an abandoned wife “a difficult trial began, which could only overcome thanks to support.”
The fact that in Germany Caritas nursing homes support people who have extramarital romance is surprising – after all, Caritas is an organization of social assistance from the Catholic Church. Caritas's practice involving helping disabled young people with masturbation or buying pornography also seems extraordinary. As – at least rhetorical – openness to prostitutes that visit such objects at the request of patients. Old people's homes in Germany have long been heading towards sexual liberation.
In the service of erotic fantasies
For many years, specialists in the field of nursing emphasize in forums that are at best semi -public that “human right to sexuality” applies to everyone and everywhere. In relation to the elderly, this was accompanied by research, according to which about half of women aged 60 to 80 and 90 percent. Men aged 50 to 90 claims that he still has erotic fantasies. So far, everything is clear.
But now, for the first time, five Caritas organizations in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) admit to such practices before the public. In their association information medium “Caritas in nrw” they described, sometimes meticulously, sometimes not directly to what extent houses for the elderly and disabled of the papal church in this country are involved in the ideal of sexual self -determination.
A resident of the Catholic Care House of St. Nikolaus in Germany (illustrative photo)AFP
Sinful, bad, absolutely forbidden
A look at the official sexual morality of Catholics, formulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, clearly shows how far Catholic social organizations have occurred. He states that “adultery is bad” and that “the sixth commandment and the New Testament absolutely forbid adultery.” Masturbation is also clearly condemned as “a serious crime by nature.”
This also applies to pornography. Pornography “seriously violates the dignity of all the people involved in it.” Like the prostitution, “violates the dignity of a person” that “engages” in it. And: “Everyone who uses it is hard to sin against themselves.”
To understand the determination of people responsible in Caritas, it is worth looking at the Protestant equivalent of Caritas, NRW-Diakon. When asked whether similar practices are widespread in deaconary homes, their spokesman replied that no one was able to confirm it “quickly”. So even among the allegedly liberal Protestants, this is not a daily topic of conversations.
“Visual materials” and sexual therapists
In “Caritas in Nrw” a specialist née Caritas Vinzenz in Aachen, honestly talks about how employees deal with sexual desires of disabled young people. He talks about a young disabled man to whom the staff “suspected that his self -ostimulation attempts were not satisfying.
Using “visual materials and artificial penis”, they tried to explain to him how he could achieve the desired result. It should be noted that in this form of “passive sexual help” the personnel of the nursing home does not affect anyone intimately.
The staff more carefully approach the topic of prostitution in public places. Here they leave some things implicitly. Guardian from St. Ludgeri-Stift in Essen talks about, for example, a senior who drew attention to the nursing home because of his “strong sex drive.” The guardians talked about it with his daughter, “who then invited a sex therapist to visit her father. After the visit [ojciec] He definitely calmed down, “says the guardian.
When asked if we should allow the use of sexual services in Caritas houses, she confirms that “he does not see any problems, because for me it is part of human right to self -determination.” Caritas spokesman Markus Lahrmann, asked if sexual services were provided during the visit of the so -called sex therapist, he answered carefully: “Only a resident himself can answer this question, because the visit took place in his room behind the door closed. Nursing staff must respect his privacy and dignity, recognizing his right to self -determination in sexual issues.”
Sexuality as a “gift from God”
Lahrmann also admits that Supporting sexual self -determination can be contrary to the sexual morality of the Church. However, it indicates that Theology is increasingly valuing sexuality “as a gift from God and the expression of the most intimate relationship with the other person”. Pope Francis “made it clear how important it is for the humanitarian church to renounce the identification of love with sin.”
The heads of the Caritas organization in the Archdioceses of Cologne and Paderborn also support such practice in their nursing homes. In their newspaper “Caritas in NRW” they said that This reflects “a very humanitarian and responsible approach to challenges in specific situations that are in the private and intimate sphere of individuals and therefore must be respected, if they remain within legal part”. The sexual doctrine of the Church “does not lose value.”
Continued article under video material
Bishops are silent
Welt Am Sonntag also wanted to learn from the bishops of both archdiocese, which they think about these practices in Caritas care homes. However, they did not answer you. Their spokesmen simply donated the question to the Caritas management, thus avoiding a statement. The diocese of Aachen, which was also asked to do so, only advised to contact Caritas. Of course, Caritas is not able to answer the question of how the management of the diocese assesses its actions.
This means that Caritas sexual liberals do not receive the support of the Episcopate, but there is also no open criticism. Church superiors are simply silent about the practice that interferes with the moral teachings of the Church. However, they certainly have the opportunity to influence Caritas's work. But they apparently don't use it.
A desire not to go out for hypocrites
Nobody wants to officially comment on the reasons for this. However, initiated persons point to several reasons. On the one hand, church leaders have become more cautious than the scandals related to harassment when it comes to preaching their sexual morality – because They don't want to seem bigoterial or hypocritical. On the other hand, the church must give her homes and care centers a room for maneuver to continue to meet with acceptance.
Due to the lack of qualified workforce, Caritas cannot do without employees who are not part of the Church. In addition, Caritas nursing homes in Germany are financed mainly by the state, i.e. taxpayers who often do not want to bother with church sexual morality. Some bishops turn a blind eye to sexual freedom.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
