The chairman of the German bishops’ conference was speaking after Pope Leo XIV criticized blessing practices in Northern Europe in his first major interview since his election in May.
At a Sept. 22 press conference in Fulda, at the start of the German bishops’ fall plenary meeting, Bätzing defended the publication of the guidance on blessings by the German bishops’ conference and the lay Central Committee of German Catholics.
He said that the document, “Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft” (“Blessings strengthen love”), was based on the 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia supplicans.
“We have made moderate additions to this document for our pastoral situation and praxis in Germany,” he noted.
“We have not published any rituals for any blessings, but place responsibility for the form of such a blessing in the hands of pastoral workers.”
He added: “And we have developed this paper transparently with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with this dicastery. So for anyone who might now ask, there is no reason to withdraw it.”
The German blessings document came under renewed scrutiny after Leo XIV made his first public comments about couples’ blessings, in an interview with Crux.
In remarks published Sept. 18, he said: “In Northern Europe, they are already publishing rituals of blessing ‘people who love one another,’ is the way they express it, which goes specifically against the document that Pope Francis approved, Fiducia supplicans, which basically says, of course we can bless all people, but it doesn’t look for a way of ritualizing some kind of blessing because that’s not what the Church teaches.”
The phrase “blessing ‘people who love one another’” is associated with the Catholic Church in Germany, which has long promoted same-sex blessings.
German Catholic commentators argued that Leo XIV’s comment showed the German bishops’ approach to blessings was at odds with that of the new pope.
In a Sept. 19 op-ed for Die Tagespost newspaper, Guido Horst said that Bishop Bätzing now faced a choice.
“Will the bishop stick to this [the German guidelines], now that the pope has spoken so clearly? Or will he return to unity with Rome and the vast majority of the Universal Church?” Horst asked.
Fiducia supplicans, which was approved by Pope Francis and issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, provoked heated debate because it appeared to reverse a 2021 statement by the doctrinal dicastery, which said the Church had no power to bless same-sex couples.
In contrast, the 2023 declaration recognized “the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.” But it said the form of the blessings “should not be fixed ritually by ecclesial authorities to avoid producing confusion with the blessing proper to the Sacrament of Marriage.”
Responding to an outcry among Catholic leaders in parts of Africa, Eastern Europe, and other regions, the Vatican acknowledged in 2024 that the practice could not be introduced immediately in certain countries.
It also gave further guidance on the blessings envisaged by the declaration, saying they should last no longer than “a few seconds,” and be conducted “without an approved ritual and without a book of blessings.”
On April 23, shortly after Pope Francis’ death on April 21, German Catholic media announced the publication of “Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft.”
The timing prompted criticism, but the German bishops’ conference rejected accusations that it had waited until a papal interregnum to publish the guidance. Officials pointed out that it was dated April 4, when Pope Francis had returned from hospital to the Vatican.
The four-page German document was issued in response to a 2023 resolution passed by participants in the country’s multi-year “synodal way,” entitled “Blessing ceremonies for couples who love each other.”
The resolution, approved before the publication of Fiducia supplicans, noted that the German bishops’ conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics, known as the ZdK, were working on “a handout for blessing ceremonies.”
It said: “This handout includes suggested forms for blessing celebrations for various couple situations (remarried couples, same-sex couples, couples after civil marriage), as well as a pastoral-theological introduction and pastoral-practical advice.”
But the guidance issued in April 2025 underlined that “no approved liturgical celebrations or prayers are provided for the blessings.”
The document nevertheless provoked criticism. New Beginning, a German Catholic group critical of the synodal way, suggested the text contradicted Fiducia supplicans.
New Beginning argued that the overall tenor of the document encouraged “a ritual practice” of blessings, while “Fiducia supplicans explicitly called for a non-ritual practice.”
The handout was approved by a body known as the Joint Conference, which periodically brings together representatives of the bishops’ conference and the ZdK.
The bishops’ conference and the ZdK presented the handout as a set of recommendations, acknowledging that each of the country’s 28 diocesan bishops was free to decide what to do with the document.
The document prompted divergent reactions in German dioceses, with some embracing it and others rejecting it outright.
Bätzing said in July that he endorsed the handout’s implementation in his Limburg diocese, following a positive assessment by diocesan bodies.
Also in July, the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese published what it called a “collection of material for the blessings of couples — regardless of their living arrangements or marital status.” The material, it said, was based on the synodal way’s resolution and the handout.
The collection — entitled “We love each other — what a blessing!” — included lengthy suggested prayers, seemingly in contradiction with Vatican guidance that blessings should last “a few seconds, without an approved ritual and without a book of blessings.”
But in July, it emerged that the guidelines would not be applied in the Archdiocese of Cologne, led by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, a critic of the synodal way.
Cologne vicar general Msgr. Guido Assmann was quoted as saying: “We will not publish and apply the aforementioned handout in the Archdiocese of Cologne, as we believe that the declaration Fiducia supplicans by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith says everything essential about how to deal with blessings for couples who cannot enter into a sacramental marriage.”
He reportedly added: “Following the publication of Fiducia supplicans, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith explicitly pointed out that the blessing should be spontaneous and brief, i.e. have neither a content-related preparation nor a liturgical form. In our opinion, the guidelines go beyond the regulations of the universal Church in this respect.”
Four other dioceses — Augsburg, Eichstätt, Passau, and Regensburg — have said they will not apply the guidance.
German Catholic media have reported that the Vatican is closely monitoring the approach to blessings in the country’s dioceses.