[Catholic Caucus] German bishop suggests guidelines for blessing same-sex ‘couples,’ divorced and ‘remarried’

LifeSite News ^ | July 11, 2025 | Antonio Cambria

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[Catholic Caucus] German bishop suggests guidelines for blessing same-sex ‘couples,’ divorced and ‘remarried’

Bishop Georg Bätzing recommended implementing heretical 'blessings' for 'divorced and remarried couples, couples of all gender identities and sexual orientations.'

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), recommended implementing the conference’s official guidelines for the “blessings” of same-sex “couples,” the divorced and civilly “remarried,” and other irregular unions in his diocese this week.

The Diocese of Limburg published Bätzing’s recommendation to implement the heterodox “blessings” in its official diocesan journal on July 9. The bishop’s recommendation follows April announcement from the German Bishops’ Conference and the lay organization Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) that they were adopting the guidelines for these “blessings” in line with “the pastoral approach” of the late Pope Francis.

The heretical “blessings” in the document are meant to be offered for “divorced and remarried couples, couples of all gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as couples who do not want to or cannot receive the sacrament of marriage for other reasons.”

READ: German bishops publish ‘blessing’ guidelines for ‘couples of all gender identities,’ citing Pope Francis

It’s worth noting that the document is not binding on the country’s bishops but merely represents “practical advice.” Bätzing is now the first German bishop to recommend implementing these “blessings” in his diocese.

The German bishops’ guidelines further state that the “blessings” can be carried out by both clerics and laypeople with an episcopal assignment. They also note that the ceremony for the “blessings” should be marked by “greater spontaneity and freedom with regard to the life situation of those who ask for the blessing.”

“For this reason, no approved liturgical celebrations and prayers are planned for the blessings,” the document states.

“The way in which the blessing is conducted, the location, the overall aesthetics, including music and singing, should testify to the appreciation of the people asking for the blessing, their togetherness, and their faith.”

READ: German archdiocese issues sex ed guidelines encouraging homosexuality, transgenderism in children

The document does suggest that no one should be forced to commit the heterodox “blessings.” However, it also states that “Pastors who nevertheless come to the conclusion that they cannot reconcile a blessing with their conscience or are unsure about this should refer the couple requesting a blessing to supportive persons (e.g., representatives for queer pastoral care, marriage and family pastoral care of the diocese).”

LifeSiteNews reached out to the German Bishops’ Conference but did not receive a response by publication time.

These guidelines for homosexual “blessings” had been expected in Germany, since the country’s heretical “Synodal Way” had already decided to allow and implement same-sex “blessings” in 2023. That same week, the “Synodal Way” had also voted in favor of allowing female deacons and approved a declaration saying that “transsexuals” should not be “excluded” from the priesthood.

Several prominent Catholic prelates have criticized the Synodal Way. Cardinal Gerhard Müller has slammed the “Synodal Way” for “not respecting the Christian anthropology, that everybody is created according to the image and likeness of God, but they are occupied and influenced by the LGBT and woke ideology, that is meta-realistic and nihilistic, and therefore they have these strange ideas for the ‘blessing’ of same-sex unions.” 

READ: ‘Sins against Christ’: Cdls. Burke, Müller slam German bishops’ approval of same-sex ‘blessings’

Pope Francis’ controversial 2023 document, Fiducia Supplicans, which allowed the “blessings” of homosexual “couples” under certain conditions, offered much support to the heretical course of the German “Synodal Church.” Indeed, the German Bishops’ guidelines cite Fiducia Supplicans to justify their heretical cause.

“In order to bring the pastoral approach of Pope Francis’ pontificate to bear more strongly on this issue as well, it is the declared intention of Fiducia Supplicans to ‘coherently combine doctrinal aspects with pastoral aspects’ (FS 3),” the German bishops wrote.

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TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Current Events; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: degenerate; frankenbishop; frankenchurch; georgbatzing; germany; heretic; homofascism; homos; lataesententiae; sexualpredator; sodomite

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Pope Francis’ controversial 2023 document, Fiducia Supplicans, which allowed the “blessings” of homosexual “couples” under certain conditions, offered much support to the heretical course of the German “Synodal Church.”

Indeed, the German Bishops’ guidelines cite Fiducia Supplicans to justify their heretical cause.

“In order to bring the pastoral approach of Pope Francis’ pontificate to bear more strongly on this issue as well, it is the declared intention of Fiducia Supplicans to ‘coherently combine doctrinal aspects with pastoral aspects’ (FS 3),” the German bishops wrote.

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Ping

Frankenchurch: Blessing unrepentant sinners in their sinful states.

[Hieronymus]

The guidelines should be really easy to write.

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