THE Roman Catholic Church in Germany faces renewed conflict with the Vatican after a cardinal authorised ceremonies of blessing for same-sex couples.

“Our pastoral workers are encouraged to address the desire for blessings responsibly and conduct ceremonies for couples,” the Bishop of Limburg, the Most Revd Georg Bätzing, the outgoing chair of the Bishops’ Conference, said. “Even if there are differing opinions about this across the universal Church, I see this practice as belonging to that responsible framework.”

The Bishop was responding to the decision by the Archbishop of Munich & Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a close adviser to the late Pope Francis, to join other German prelates in authorising same-sex blessing ceremonies in his churches.

The move prompted a warning, however, from Pope Leo, who told journalists that the Holy See had “made clear” its disagreement with “formalised blessings”.

“The unity or division of the Church should not revolve around sexual matters,” the Pope said last week on his return flight from Africa. “I believe there are much greater and more important issues, such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue.”

In December 2023, a Vatican decree conditionally allowed priests to bless same-sex couples spontaneously “outside of a liturgical framework” (News, 22 December 2023).

The decree was rejected as too permissive by some conservative Bishops’ Conferences, but as too restrictive by liberal bishops in Germany, who, in April last year, published a handbook for same-sex ceremonies.

The “practical guidelines” have since been adopted in about half the German Church’s 27 dioceses, and were backed at the weekend by the President of the country’s Central Committee of German Catholics, Irme Stetter-Karp. She rejected suggestions that formalised blessings could be “confused with the sacrament of marriage”.

Pope Leo’s warning was welcomed in a statement, however, by the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Woelki, who said that the Pope had rightly “reaffirmed the importance of a common approach”.

The KNA (Catholic News Agency) in Germany said that Cardinal Marx’s approval of same-sex ceremonies appeared to have “escalated the conflict” with Pope Leo, who had adopted a “more measured” approach to liberal changes than his Argentinian predecessor.