Berlin’s Archbishop Will Not Sanction Priests Who Bless LGBTQ+ Couples

A German archbishop has said that while he will not perform blessings of LGBTQ+ couples, no priest or pastoral minister who does so will be sanctioned in his archdiocese, a position he roots in the teachings of Pope Francis.

Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin announced the new policy in a five-page pastoral letter released August 21st. He explained that this approach results from the archdiocese’s efforts to implement more concretely the proposals made by Germany’s Synodal Way process that concluded this spring. The Synodal Way was remarkably LGBTQ-positive, and approved a document that calls for queer couples and others in relationships the church deems “irregular” to receive church blessings.

Koch said in his new letter that the Synodal Way’s proposals must be taken seriously, yet he is also committed not to defy Pope Francis, whose apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, is quoted extensively in the archbishop’s letter. Koch outlines six points about the new blessings policy, which he emphasizes is pastoral, not juridical or administrative. He writes (via Google Translate):

“1. Due to the different positions and arguments that speak for and against the blessing of couples, I expect that full-time ministers can make a carefully considered decision for themselves. . .

“3. So long as the status quo on the question of blessings for couples who cannot or do not wish to marry sacramentally exists, I will not take disciplinary action against pastoral workers who, for pastoral reasons, bless the couples in their special personal situations after a pastoral conversation that serves to form their conscience and make decisions.

“4. I expect that the pastors’ decision for or against a blessing is respected.”

Koch adds that respecting a decision includes that “blessings not to be used politically or in the media,” nor to suggest one position is superior to another, but rather, to focus blessings in the realm of personal pastoral care. He also shares the course of action he will take personally:

“2. I have decided that as long as no other decision is made by the Holy Father on the blessing of couples who cannot or do not want to confer the sacrament of marriage, other than that presented by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in March 2021, I will not bless these couples. As the German Bishops’ Conference, we are doing everything we can to intensify talks with the Pope and those responsible for further clarification. For example, the future prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández, has shown himself open to considering a blessing. . .”

Finally, among his six points, the archbishop recognizes there may be divisions in communities or among pastoral teams. Koch mandates that, “I expect from you – especially from the pastors as leaders of a parish – to respect these [guidelines] from the described spirit and within the described limits.” If a solution is not possible, he asks to be included in the discussions to seek a positive resolution.

Before outlining the six policy points, Koch offers charitable interpretations of the arguments that Catholics in Germany have made for and against such blessings, all of whom showed “a great love for the Church.” He writes that the pro-LGBTQ+ side has “well-thought out reasons, writing these include a recognition that knowledge of human sexuality has evolved, the church must recognize what is good in same-gender partnerships, people who choose to love one another deserve God’s protection, and couples seeking the church’s blessing clearly show they seek to live lives of faith.

With the Synodal Way’s recommendation that all dioceses begin offering blessings to LGBTQ+ couples, new questions have arisen about how the proposal can be implemented, prompting conflicts.

Bondings 2.0 reported previously on the decision of Cologne’s Cardinal Rainier Maria Woelki to threaten one of his priests with sanctions for leading a “blessing service for all loving couples” last spring. Since then, Msgr. Guido Assmann, vicar general for the Archdiocese of Cologne, published a letter denying the priest, Fr. Herbert Ullmann, had ever faced sanctions. Ullmann responded by rejecting the vicar general’s account, and the controversy continues. The incident, however, led church officials in the Dioceses of Essen and Dusseldorf to clarify that no pastoral ministers would face sanctions there for offering blessings.

Archbishop Koch’s letter seems to recognize that, despite the Vatican’s 2021 attempted ban, the question of blessing LGBTQ+ couples in the church is far from settled in Germany and elsewhere. His pastoral letter seeks to navigate this ambiguity by recognizing the Vatican’s instruction, the faithful’s diverse views, and the need for pastoral ministers to act according to their consciences. This attempt at synthesis in an ongoing discernment, in seeking to preserve unity in diversity is a most Catholic path. And, more generally, it is a path that Pope Francis, in whom Koch grounds his own arguments, seems very comfortable with, too.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, September 4, 2023