Status: 03/10/2023 4:33 p.m
One of the main demands of the Synodal Path reform process in the Catholic Church was that same-sex couples can be blessed. In three years, the blessing celebrations should now officially be possible in German churches.
From March 2026 there will also be official blessing celebrations for homosexual couples in the Catholic Church in Germany. This was decided by the Synodal Assembly for the Reform of the Catholic Church in Frankfurt/Main. The three years until the start should be used to create forms and the liturgical form of the ceremony with the participation of the bishops.
Of the 202 congregation members, 176 voted in favor of the blessing ceremonies and 14 against. Twelve members abstained. The required two-thirds majority of the bishops also came about. However, a vote was taken on a weakened form of the motion. Originally it contained the direct demand to introduce blessing celebrations – now the text only contained the recommendation for it.
Touchstone for the ability to change
The blessing celebrations are already practiced in many communities today, but they take place in a gray area in terms of canon law. The synodalists demanded that it was time to get blessing celebrations out of living rooms and secret meetings in churches. Priests who give their blessings should no longer have to fear sanctions. Divorced people who have remarried should also be able to be blessed.
One of the main demands of the synodal path reform process, which has been running in the Catholic Church since 2019, is that blessing celebrations are also possible for same-sex couples. The demand was considered a touchstone for how capable of change the Catholic Church in Germany is.
The nun Katharina Ganz emphasized that the decision was “an important signal to the universal church”. However, the Vatican made it clear in 2021 that it was “not allowed” to bless homosexual partnerships. In Africa, too, the Catholics are strictly against it, argued the delegate Emeka Ani against the motion. The Bishop of Eichstätt, Gregor Maria Hanke, warned of inner-church discord.
The theologian Martina Kreidler-Kos agrees that it will be a challenge for some parts of the universal church: “But it can be.”
Already introduced in Belgium
The theologian Mirjam Gräve, who is married to a woman, on the other hand, emphasized in the debate: “Giving blessings is the very own mission of the church.” Theology professor Julia Knop also emphasized: “If the liturgy is used to humiliate people by refusing blessings, that contradicts the will of God.”
At the Synodal Assembly, Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny reported on how blessing celebrations for same-sex couples were introduced in Belgium. That went relatively quietly, informal agreements were made with the Vatican and Pope Francis. The Pope just said: “That’s your decision.”