German bishops divided over same-sex blessing

By Jonathan Luxmoore, OSV

A German Catholic spokesman has defended his church's approach to blessing same-sex couples, despite evidence of deep disagreement among the country's bishops.

"The members of the German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics have adopted a guideline for pastoral agents on the blessing of couples not married by the Church; they have recommended to the diocesan bishops to proceed in accordance with its spirit," explained Matthias Kopp, spokesman for the German bishops.

This document states that the Church recognizes and offers support to couples united in love. Therefore, the practice of accompanying divorced and remarried couples with a blessing, as well as couples of all gender identities and sexual orientations, and couples unwilling or unable to receive the sacrament of marriage, should be strengthened.

The spokesman was reacting to an Aug. 6 survey by the Bonn-based Katholisch online news agency, which showed that less than half of Germany's 27 Catholic dioceses had fully approved and adopted the new "Blessings for Loving Couples" booklet for pastors.

Division among bishops

In an interview with OSV News, Kopp said the Vatican had been consulted on the guide prior to its release on April 23, adding that he saw no danger of a serious split over the issue of blessings.

However, a senior observer told OSV News that Germany's bishops were irrevocably divided on same-sex blessings and many believed the new four-page booklet violated rules set by the Vatican.

"With every priest and parish now doing what it considers right, I don't foresee consensus," stated Gottfried Bohl, news editor of the German Catholic news agency , KNA. "Perhaps it is positive that there are disagreements, as they allow the bishops to present opposing liberal and conservative faces at the same time. But in any case, many Germans have little interest in what the Church teaches and do not accept being told what to do by the clergy, especially in matters of sexuality."

The document, prepared by a Gemeinsame Konferenz, or joint conference of Catholic bishops and lay Catholics with the approval of the permanent council of the bishops' conference, offers "practical guidelines" for blessing people in irregular unions.

Fiducia Supplicans

He cites "Fiducia Supplicans," a December 2023 statement from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which conditionally allowed priests for the first time to bless same-sex couples "outside of a liturgical framework," though "without officially validating their status" or "changing in any way the Church's perennial teaching on marriage."

The Vatican document, subtitled "On the Pastoral Significance of Blessings," affirmed that the Church could extend God's grace through blessings to couples in "irregular situations," especially same-sex couples or non-marital heterosexual cohabitations. It also affirmed the immorality of extramarital sexual relations, but recognized that couples in irregular situations could benefit spiritually from the graces that blessings could mediate.

The booklet for German pastors published in April notes that, while there should be "no confusion with the liturgical celebration of the sacrament of marriage," same-sex blessings can now be given with "greater spontaneity and freedom," and can include "music and singing," as well as Scripture and Bible readings.

"Unchurched, divorced and remarried couples of all sexual orientations and gender identities are a natural part of our society. Many of these couples would like a blessing for their relationship," the brochure says.

"The Church wishes to proclaim the divine dignity of each person, both in word and deed...Therefore, she recognizes and offers support to couples united in love, who treat each other with full respect and dignity, and who are willing to live their sexuality by caring for themselves and each other with long-term social responsibility," the brochure states.

Freedom to follow guidelines

In his interview with OSV News, Kopp said that Catholic dioceses in Germany were not obliged to follow the booklet and added that the bishops' conference had no data on the "general attitude" of Catholics toward same-sex blessings.

However, in his survey, Katholisch stated that the April guidelines had been "received very differently" throughout the German Church.

Some dioceses were taking steps to implement it, the agency reported, including Dresden-Meissen, Hildesheim, Limburg and Osnabrück, as well as Rottenburg-Stuttgart, which published a 15-page booklet with prayers for "couples of all sexual orientations and gender identities" seeking blessings "regardless of lifestyle or marital status."

However, other dioceses had rejected the aid, Katholisch reported, including Augsburg, Cologne, Eichstätt, Passau and Regensburg, while several, including Magdeburg, Paderborn and Munich-Freising, had not yet "reached a final position" on the blessings.

In a July 22 statement, the Archdiocese of Cologne said the new guidelines for the distribution of blessings violated Vatican instructions that blessings should be "spontaneous and transient" without "liturgical form."

Meanwhile, the Augsburg diocese told Katholisch that the brochure explicitly referred to "blessing ceremonies" with readings and singing, thus breaching Vatican instructions to "avoid a parallel with marriage services."

Catholics account for about 23.7% of Germany's 84.7 million population, although church membership and attendance have declined sharply since 2019, with only 6.6% of Catholics currently attending Mass, according to July church data.

Same-sex blessings were endorsed by the lay-led Central Committee of German Catholics in a plenary vote in November 2019, and were also strongly supported by the reformist forum Synodal Way of the German church at its fifth session in March 2023.

International controversy

However, the issue has been divisive internationally: some Catholic bishops' conferences and dioceses, especially in the Global South, have rejected the blessings and criticized the Vatican's 2023 statement.

In his interview with OSV News, Bohl said he believed most bishops were concerned about responding positively to liberal, pro-reform pressure among German Catholics, many of whom were waiting for a response from the Vatican to the church's latest moves on same-sex blessings.

"Many people have lost confidence in the Church because of the sexual abuse crisis, and its leaders must be careful not to lose further credibility with today's highly secularized society," the KNA news editor told OSV News.

"The new Pope knows the situation well, as he has been involved in numerous recent talks with German bishops. But, for now, we still do not know how he intends to handle the reform requests of bishops' conferences like ours," he said.