German Catholics to bless gay unions despite Vatican ban

Vicar Wolfgang Rothe, left, blesses the couple Christine Walter, center, and Almut Muenster, right, during a Catholic service with the blessing of same-sex couples in St Benedict's Church in Munich, Sunday, May 9, 2021. Germany’s Catholic progressives are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering exactly such blessings at services in about 100 different churches all over the country. The blessings at open worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, which said Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex unions. (Felix Hoerhager/dpa via AP)

 BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s powerful Catholic progressives are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering such blessings at services in about 100 different churches all over the country this week.

The blessings at open worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which said Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin.”

The document pleased conservatives and disheartened advocates for LGBTQ Catholics around the globe. But the response has been particularly acute in Germany, where the German church has been at the forefront of opening discussion on hot-button issues such as the church’s teaching on homosexuality as part of a formal process of debate and reform.

The dozens of church services celebrating blessings of gay unions are the latest escalation in tensions between conservatives and progressives that have already sparked alarm, primarily from the right, that part of the German church might be heading into schism.

Germany is no stranger to schism: 500 years ago, Martin Luther launched the Reformation here.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-lifestyle-religion-f94e1e634f3b80e209d82ce29927deab