Church leaders in Germany defended a document on blessings for couples in “irregular” situations after Pope Leo appeared to criticise it.
Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Central Committee of Lay Catholics (ZdK) said that there was no reason to retract the text Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft (“Blessing gives strength to love”) because it merely recommended offering blessings to couples who did not wish to enter into a sacramental marriage or to whom this was not available.
“Nothing more and nothing less. There is no possibility of confusion with the sacrament of marriage,” she said, insisting that the German Church would continue its reform process but maintain communications with the Holy See.
“It is well known that Pope Leo is concerned that a blessing must not be confused with the sacrament of marriage,” Stetter-Karp said, observing that he “stands therefore in continuity with his predecessor Francis, which he has just confirmed when asked by journalists on his return flight from Africa”.
During his flight from Equatorial Guinea to Rome on 23 April, the Pope responded to a question about a statement from the Archbishop of Munich and Freising Cardinal Reinhard Marx commending the use of the blessings document in the archdiocese.
The joint conference of the German bishops’ conference and the ZdK issued the document in April 2025 as a platform for pastoral action following Fiducia Supplicans, the document published by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith in December 2023.
In a letter to clergy and lay ministers, Marx asked that the theological meaning of such a blessing be explained to those “who still struggle with this blessing”. Ministers who prefer not to give this blessing should refer interested couples to the relevant dean or other clergy.
A blessing is distinct from a sacramental marriage, said Marx said, but this does not mean such couples – who in many cases may have already had a civil wedding – should be marginalised in the church or in the parish. No couple should be turned away, and where necessary, this could also be the Church’s contribution to healing and reconciliation.
Pope Leo’s comments last week emphasised that “we do not agree with the formalised blessing of couples” beyond the terms of Fiducia Supplicans, which he said made clear that “all people receive blessings”.
“To go beyond that today, I think that the topic can cause more disunity than unity, and that we should look for ways to build our unity upon Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches,” he said, while arguing “that the unity or division of the Church should not revolve around sexual matters”.
Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, who was president of the bishops’ conference until February this year, said: “Even if there are different assessments within the universal Church, I see this practice [of blessings] in the Diocese of Limburg in a responsible framework. It serves the people and, in my view, does not endanger the unity of the Church.”
The document originates in a request by the Synodal Way and later included the blessings of same-sex relationships presented in Fiducia Supplicans.
In most German dioceses, it is recommended or tolerated, though Augsburg, Eichstätt, Cologne, Passau and Regensburg reject it altogether.
It is envisaged that the revised German Benedictionale will include a “blessing for couples who love each other”.