[Catholic Caucus] German Dioceses Respond Positively and Negatively to Blessings Guidelines

In June, Bondings 2.0 shared the news that a German church body had published guidelines for the pastoral blessing of couples living in “irregular” situations, which included same-gender couples. Since their publication, the guidelines have met with mixed reactions from German bishops, ranging from enthusiasm to rejection.

Entitled “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other”, the guidelines were released by a joint conference of the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (an official Catholic organization representing lay people in Germany).

Katholische.de previously reported that the provisions’ recommendation to plan a blessing event, including providing certain liturgical components (such as readings and music) seemed to conflict markedly with the Vatican’s 2023 treatment of the matter in Fiducia supplicans. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, both in the original document and in subsequent clarifying statements, emphasized the spontaneous and extra-liturgical characteristics of licit blessings.

Yet the Vatican had been included in a revision loop prior to the guidelines’ publication and offered no comment, suggesting that, for now at least, the German church can proceed with implementing the guidelines.

Implementation of the guidelines, however, has in the meantime generated additional controversy, with the German episcopate demonstrating a mixed reception of the guidelines. The bishops ands laity conferences which issued the guidelines do not have the authority to make binding decisions for the German church, so individual bishops may publicly express whether or not, and how, the directives will be implemented in their jurisdictions.

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the current Chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, enthusiastically recommended the implementation of the handout. He first held votes among the diocesan team, the Pastoral Council, and the Diocesan Synodal Council to gauge their support. The guideline text was published in the Limburg diocese’s official newspaper.

“I encourage pastors to make use of the possibilities this handout offers for organizing blessing ceremonies for couples, ” Bätzing said.

The bishop’s notable use of the word “ceremonies” notwithstanding, the Limburg recommendation does make an attempt to align the new guidelines with Rome. As reported by Katholische.de, the diocesan recommendation reads in part:

“The application of this guide is largely in accordance with the declaration Fiducia supplicans, published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith with the approval of Pope Francis…This blessing does not establish a partnership and should therefore not be confused with the celebration of marriage as a sacrament. Rather, the partners of an existing partnership place themselves under God’s blessing with their request.”

The Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart pushed the envelope even further. In addition to recommending implementation of the guidelines, the diocese release a pamphlet entitled “We Love Each Other — What a Blessing!” The materials included suggested readings and prayers for the blessing event.Bishop Klaus Krämer of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, appointed by Pope Francis in February, did not sign the statement announcing the pamphlet. The statement read, in part:

“With the publication of a collection of materials entitled “We love one another – what a blessing!” the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart is opening up new avenues of pastoral guidance for couples who ask for a blessing for their relationship – regardless of their lifestyle or marital status…The collection now presented is aimed at pastoral workers who accompany couples who are not married in the church or who are divorced and remarried, as well as couples of all kinds of sexual orientations and gender identities, on their shared journey and who provide them with spiritual support in important moments.”

The Rottenburg-Stuttgart statement also seeks to align itself with Rome, invoking Supplicans, and characterizing the document’s essential message this way:

“At its core is the conviction that where people meet in love and responsibility, God is present—and this togetherness is worthy of blessing. The blessing prayers offered take the diversity of today’s couple constellations seriously and express that the Church not only recognizes this love but also accompanies it.”

That strongly positive reading of Supplicans is not sharedby every German diocese. The Archdiocese of Cologne announced that it would not implement the guidelines, as “the guidance here goes beyond the universal Church regulations,” according to Vicar General Msgr. Guido Assmann. The archdiocese acknowledged that it remains a priority “for all pastors and all baptized people, to find effective ways, within the framework of the universal Church regulations, to extend God’s closeness and companionship to people.”

Notably, the guidelines set out in “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other” stop short of the resolution arising from Germany’s 2019-2023 Synodal Way, where a 93% majority of delegates — including 81% of bishops — recommended “developing and introducing appropriate liturgical celebrations in the near future.” The Synodal Way’s “Working Group for Catholic Family Education” (AKF) also issued unofficial liturgical guidelines in 2023 which Katholische.de described as “so similar in content, procedure, and tone to a church wedding that non-experts can hardly distinguish the difference.”

Although the working group is merely an association of the faithful, the head of the Pastoral Department in the Secretariat of the German Bishops’ Conference is a member of the AKF’s board, by virtue of his national office. Both the AKF and Synodal Way documents were issued prior to Supplicans, and drew mainly on the relatively vague address of pastoral care for people in “irregular” situations provided by Amoris laetitia, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation in response to the 2014-15 Synod on the Family.

In the wake of Supplicans and the wrapping-up of the German Synodal Way, Katholische.de reported that the German episcopate is “at least verbally and formally, orienting themselves more strongly towards Rome on this issue than the German Synodal Way did,” and described the Limburg and Rottenberg-Stuttgart statements as “considerably more restrained and cautious.”

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, both in the original document and in subsequent clarifying statements, emphasized the spontaneous and extra-liturgical characteristics of licit blessings.

Vatican offered no comment!

Not very encouraging news from Pope Leo's early papacy.

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