Vatican irritates after decision to celebrate blessings for homosexuals

A local church cannot make decisions that affect the world church: This is how the Vatican reacted after the synodal assembly decided to allow official blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples.

Dhe Vatican has irritated on the Admission of blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples in the Catholic Church in Germany reacted. A local church cannot make decisions that affect the universal church, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said Monday night at a book launch to journalists in Rome.

According to him, the Holy See has already made clear statements on the subject. Therefore there must be a discussion with the Vatican and the other churches in the world, said the number two behind Pope Francis.

When asked whether the move by German Catholics should be understood as a “rebellion”, Parolin said: “There have always been tensions and different positions in the church.”

The Vatican will now continue the dialogue with the German bishops in order to clarify how that decision can be integrated into the synodal path of the universal church.

The Synodal Assembly for the Reform of the Catholic Church had decided last week to allow official blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples.

A working group is now to be formed that will create a handout for the blessing celebrations “promptly”. The handout is intended to specify how the blessing celebrations should take place.

As soon as this handout is ready, every bishop can implement the blessing celebrations in his diocese. In 2026 there will then be an evaluation of the experiences.