German bishops face division over same-sex blessings

Germany’s Catholic bishops are divided over new guidelines allowing blessings for same-sex couples and others in “irregular” unions.

The four-page “Blessings for couples who love each other” handout for pastors provides guidelines for priests to bless couples outside the sacrament of marriage—including divorced-and-remarried Catholics and people of all gender identities—provided there’s no confusion with a wedding liturgy.

Supporters, like bishops’ spokesman Matthias Kopp, say the document affirms love and dignity while respecting Vatican rules.

But a survey by Katholisch.de found fewer than half of Germany’s 27 dioceses have adopted the handout, which was published in April.

Some, like Cologne and Augsburg, said the handout conflicts with Vatican instructions for spontaneous, non-liturgical blessings.

Others, such as Rottenburg-Stuttgart, are rolling it out along with suggested prayers.

The debate comes as Mass attendance in Germany sits at just 6.6 per cent, and amid broader global tensions over Fiducia Supplicans, a December 2023 declaration from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith, which conditionally allowed priests to bless same-sex couples and other couples in irregular situations “outside of a liturgical framework.”