German churches plan services to bless same-sex couples in defiance of Vatican
- The Church of St Benedict in Munich held blessing Masses in the majority-Catholic state of Bavaria on Sunday
- The Vatican issued a declaration in March that the Catholic Church does not have the authority to bless homosexual couples
Churches across Germany are planning services to bless homosexual couples this week, in defiance of a Vatican decree clarifying that such blessings are banned in the Catholic Church.
The Church of St Benedict in the southern German city of Munich is holding one of just four planned blessing Masses in the majority-Catholic state of Bavaria on Sunday.
“It was not so easy to find a church,” said Renate Spannig, spokeswoman for the reform initiative Maria 2.0, which is co-organising the service scheduled for 4.30pm local time.
Maria 2.0 is a grass-roots reform initiative, which among other things campaigns for greater roles for women in the Catholic Church.
The other three are set to take place in Wuerzburg.
Burkhard Hose, chaplain for the Catholic community of Wuerzburg Universities, began collecting signatures from people in the church soon after the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration in March that the Catholic Church does not have the authority to bless homosexual couples.