That\u2019s the term devised by bishops and lay Catholics in new guidelines allowing priests bless all couples, including remarried and same-sex couples.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a new departure for the Catholic Church<\/a>, which views marriage as a sacrament exclusively available for previously unmarried, chaste heterosexuals.<\/p>\n And the shift has attracted disapproving attention from Rome, where senior Curia members view German Catholics\u2019 new blessing regime as a curse.<\/p>\n Before we go forward, it\u2019s worth going back to 2013 when Pope Francis<\/a>, asked by a journalist about the Catholic position on homosexuality, gave a memorable and historic response: \u201cWho am I to judge?\u201d<\/p>\n Though he made clear he wasn\u2019t changing church teaching, liberal Catholics in Germany heard a signal of papal approval for an, in their eyes, overdue reform of social teaching.<\/p>\n The time had come, they argued, to make the church a more welcoming place to halt the march of secularisation. <\/p>\n That took root in the Synodal Path process, a lengthy period of public and private consultation that produced a final reform document, including a blessing option for all couples. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Is Angela Merkel set to return as EU envoy on Ukraine?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The document recognises \u201cthe God-given dignity of every person in word and deed\u201d. It notes, too, the diversity of couples \u201cunited in love, who meet each other with full respect and dignity, and who are prepared to live their sexuality with mindfulness for themselves, for each other, and with social responsibility in the long term\u201d.<\/p>\n With such couples in mind, the document \u201crecommends that blessing ceremonies be made available to couples who do not wish to enter into a church-sanctioned sacramental marriage or for whom such a marriage is not open\u201d. <\/p>\n It is a non-binding document, but was backed by a majority of bishops and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), a leading lay organisation. When it was finally published a year ago, two days after the death of Pope Francis, a red flag went up in Rome.<\/p>\n Now, amid what looks like a continuing standoff, the Curia has published a private letter of concern sent last November to German bishops. <\/p>\n In the letter Cardinal Victor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the church in Germany had no grounds to offer a \u201cliturgical blessing\u201d that \u201cin any way gives moral legitimation\u201d to sex outside marriage or \u201canything pretending to be marriage\u201d. <\/p>\n The letter, and its publication, surprised many reform-friendly German Catholics. They see their document, Blessings Empower Love, as a legitimate and considered response to a 2023 papal document, Fiducia Supplicans, that explicitly allows priests bless partners \u201cin irregular life situations\u201d. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Trump says Pope Leo is \u2018endangering a lot of Catholics\u2019 in continuing row over Iran warOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Such language infuriated conservative bishops so much, particularly in African countries, that they secured an opt-out and clarification from Rome.<\/p>\n Fern\u00e1ndez said any such blessing must be a \u201cspontaneous pastoral practice\u201d of a few seconds\u2019 duration. No lengthy Celine Dion-inspired his-and-his extravaganza, please.<\/p>\n This is the position Fern\u00e1ndez underlined in his more recent letter to German bishops. He warns against offering blessings that resemble a \u201ckind of liturgical rite\u201d for same-sex couples.<\/p>\n The German episcopate, in damage-limitation mode, insisted the November letter from Rome drew on an outdated version of the document.<\/p>\n The final guidelines make clear that \u201cno liturgical celebration or prayers are foreseen\u201d. \u201cThe blessings should be organised in a way that they are not confused with the celebration in mass of the sacrament of marriage,\u201d the guidelines add. <\/p>\n (As well as annoyance, the document has drawn some smirks for suggesting, with true Germanic seriousness, that the \u201cgreater spontaneity\u201d of blessing ceremonies require \u201ccareful preparation\u201d.) <\/p>\n [\u00a0Catholic weddings in Ireland drop by more than half in 10 yearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n So what happens next in this standoff? No one seems sure. Some 500 years after Germans\u2019 last big row with Rome split the western Christian church, the new rules have already divided the German church. More conservative bishops, such as in Cologne, fear a slippery slope and have refused their priests permission for blessing ceremonies. More liberal dioceses such as Berlin have given the green light. Some other bishops have decided to look the other way.<\/p>\n![\"Sr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/UJDIX4BFYDTAJPBK53IXVIZITA.jpg\")
Sr Fancin-Marie and Sr Felizitas of the Schoenstaedter Marienschwestern (Sisters of Mary) attend the opening of the 2026 Catholic Convention in Wurzburg, Germany. Photograph: Thomas Lohnes\/Getty Images <\/p>\n