Guidance on German Blessings Gains More Support and Criticism

More German dioceses are taking an official stand on the handout entitled “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other” released by a joint conference of the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics. As Bondings 2.0 reported last month, there has been a mixed reception about the guidance on how to conduct blessings of couples in “irregular” situations, including same-gender couples. 

The non-binding document arose from conversations during Germany’s Synodal Way, the German Catholic Church’s synod process, which predate the Vatican’s treatment of pastoral blessings for same-gender couples in 2023’s Fiducia supplicans. 

The handout’s provisions surpass those of Supplicans, recommending a level of liturgical care and planning while Rome insisted upon spontaneous and extra-liturgical blessings. However, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and its prefect, Cardinal Victor Hernandez, who was responsible for Supplicans, provided input to the text prior to its publication. 

Soon after the release of the guidance, several dioceses enthusiastically embraced the provisions, while the Archdiocese of Cologne stated that they were too far beyond the universal church’s norms.

Now, several other dioceses have condoned the handout by publishing it on diocesan websites rather than in the diocesan newspaper or sending communiques to pastoral staff. Some prelates seem to be taking a cautious approach, including Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin, who in a  recent letter to pastoral staff said he will not personally bestow blessings on same-gender or remarried couples nor impose sanctions on those of his priests who do. 

Still, other dioceses are enthusiastically supportive. Katholische.de reports on some diocesan reactions:

“In Essen, it is pointed out that diocese employees have collaborated on the handout. Furthermore, there are already pastoral training courses on the handout. Fulda supports the text: ‘We see the handout as an important step on the path to a church that is oriented towards the realities of people’s lives and respects love in all its expressions.’ Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz presented the handout to all pastoral workers in his diocese in an email: ‘I recommend that you proceed in accordance with the handout in your practice,’ he wrote, according to his press office. The Diocese of Würzburg already has a practice of these blessing ceremonies. This is also explicitly mentioned at the Diocese’s booths at wedding fairs. ‘Due to the different situations of the couples, the blessing ceremonies are also very individual and require a high degree of sensitivity and flexibility in their design. The support and advice of the pastors requested by the couples is generally occasion-related and individual,’ said the Würzburg spokesperson.”

In fact, the news story states that “in more than half of the 27 dioceses the guidelines are either generally applied or there is a pastoral practice that conforms to them.” Only four more dioceses joined Cologne in opposition: Augsburg, Eichstätt, Passau, and Regensburg. They each refer to Supplicans, which said blessings should not be formalized into an institutional ritual. Other dioceses are still deliberating. 

Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg offered the most comprehensive justification against the guidance along a four-point basis. Most of the remaining dioceses are in deliberation. He said he will not make the handout available in his diocese due to the following reasons:

1) it justifies the extra-liturgical nature of the blessings with reference to the spontaneity and freedom of the individuals’ life situations, not because of the qualitative difference between sacramental marriage and pastoral blessing which Supplicans noted;

2) the handout explicitly speaks of “blessings ceremonies” in contradiction to Holy See’s ban on ritualizing such blessings;

3) some “practical hints” in the handout call for liturgical preparation akin to the communal celebration of marriage;

4) because Supplicans’ guidance regarding avoiding “gestures and words that are an expression of a marriage” are missing from the handout. 

Katholisch.de’s summary of the situation is generally encouraging for LGBTQ+ Catholics, making the important observation that relative to the global church, a large portion of the German episcopate is strongly  supportive of the monumental paradigm shift represented by Supplicans, even if some are unwilling to stretch its disciplinary provisions. It also notes the lack of Roman censure, at least for now: 

“In most dioceses, it is now possible for couples who cannot marry to receive a blessing – with some regional variations. Despite all the differences, however, there is a consensus that appropriate queer pastoral care is needed: Unlike in other parts of the world church, there is no diocesan bishop in Germany who wants to back down from Fiducia supplicans; this is also emphasized by the most serious critics of the guide. There has been no reaction to the blessing document from the Vatican so far – despite the discrepancies between Fiducia supplicans, which does not want to see blessings in any kind of liturgical context, and the guide, which, despite the lack of a service form, goes in the other direction. Whether this is due to the good diplomacy prior to the guide or to a reorganization after the change of pontificate is not yet clear.”

Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, August 13, 2025