Catholic priests in Germany bless gay couples, defying pope

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Blessings are due to be celebrated at around 100 churches and other venues in early May, many on Monday evenings. The German clergy performed such blessings for years, but usually in private and not in churches.

“It’s time to be visible in the church,” said Holger Woltering, whose 2017 civil marriage to Lennart Woltering was blessed for the second time on Thursday in the northwestern town of Geldern. Germany. The ceremony was recorded for streaming on the Internet. “It’s really, really time to change those rules,” he said.

The ceremonies were held in response to a statement in March from the Vatican’s doctrinal office, endorsed by Pope Francis, banning the blessings of same-sex relationships on the grounds that God “cannot bless sin.”

Pope Francis, presented to the Vatican on Sunday, opposes the offices of blessing.


Photo:

vincenzo pinto/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

German Catholics considered this document to be particularly intended for them. Since last year, German bishops and laity have been organizing a national synod that considers a number of potential changes in Catholic life, including the liberalization of teaching on sexuality and the ordination of women.

According to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center, 93% of Catholics in Germany believe society should accept homosexuality, compared to 76% in the United States and 6% in Nigeria.

Conservative bishops in Germany and the United States have warned that the synod could foment a schism in the Church, but a spokesman for the German bishops’ conference said such fears are unfounded and that “the Germany is an integral part of the universal Church”.

Last month, retired German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller called the May 10 blessings “a huge scandal, a terrifying sign of heresy, schism and the collapse of the church.”

Bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg said the blessings “are not suitable as an instrument for ecclesiastical political demonstrations or protest actions,” but he did not threaten disciplinary action. The Vatican did not respond to requests for comment.

So far the blessings have been uneventful, said Klaus Nelissen, one of the campaign organizers, although a Munich priest said he received hostile emails before leading a blessing ceremony on Sunday after -midday.

Reverend Wolgang Rothe said the emails threatened him with the ‘wrath of God’ and one said: ‘You will die and go to hell immediately’.

Four police officers guarded the Munich event in St. Benedict’s Church, which was attended by around 30 couples, including around 10 gay or lesbian, Father Rothe said. Church workers in robes held up rainbow banners as the priest read the Gospel.

“It was a great experience, we felt God’s blessing,” Fr. Rothe said. “The heavens were open. Everyone was happy. »

Among Father Rothe’s blessed were Almut Münster and Christine Waltner, a child psychotherapist and teacher in Munich, who have been together for more than three years despite not being legally married.

“It was a very special moment for us, which brought us even closer and made me feel welcome in the church, which I don’t normally have,” Ms Münster said.

The Reverend Christian Olding, who blessed the Wolterings’ relationship in 2017 and again at the end of last week, said the next debate will be about the possibility of same-sex marriage within the church, a question about which he says he is still undecided.

“We can’t do the same sacrament for relationships that are able to create new life and for relationships that aren’t biologically able to do that, but I think if we say the foundation of the sacrament is love and the love of God is also the same – sexual relations…have a right to discuss this point,” Fr. Olding said.

But conservatives worry that such distinctions are easily lost.

“I suspect that the blessings for same-sex couples in the liturgy create the danger of confusion between sacramental marriage and a blessing for different types of couples,” said Helmut Hoping, professor of theology at the University of Freiburg.

Write to Francis X. Rocca at [email protected]

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