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Theologian Faces Inciting Homophobia Charges: Bellinzona Court Hears Case

Theologian Faces Inciting Homophobia Charges: Bellinzona Court Hears Case

Mon, Apr 22nd 2024

A prominent theologian faces charges of discrimination and incitement to homophobia in Bellinzona.

KEYSTONE/Gaetan Bally

The court in Bellinzona will announce its first-instance verdict in the proceedings against a German theologian teaching in Lugano on Monday afternoon. The professor at the Faculty of Theology is accused of discrimination and incitement to homophobia.

The 68-year-old professor at the University of Italian-speaking Switzerland (USI) has been charged with allowing the publication of a homophobic article in a theological monthly of which he is the editor.

The theologian, who had pleaded not guilty, appeared in person before the court in Bellinzona on Monday last week after defying a penalty order. This had sentenced the man to a fine of CHF 9,450 and a fine of CHF 1,850 in December 2022.

The professor was convicted of discrimination and incitement to hatred because he had allowed the publication of an article by a Polish theologian in the German Catholic monthly magazine “Theologisches”. The text compared homosexuals within the church to “a cancer, unscrupulous parasites and a gay mafia”.

The defendant’s lawyer demanded an acquittal for his client, as the article in question did not contain any attacks on all homosexuals, but only on those who had “stained” themselves with crimes within the church.

Is this a crime and should he be punished?

©Keystone/SDA

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