Over 500 German priests vow to defy Church’s ban on same-sex couples

[Stone]

Over 500 German priests vow to defy Church’s ban on same-sex couples

A much-hyped blessing service for same-sex couples in Germany at more than 50 parishes is being planned for May 10.

Monument of Martin Luther in Wittenberg, Germany

April 27, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Hundreds of priests in Germany have vowed to defy the Vatican’s ban on same-sex blessings. A much-hyped blessing service for same-sex couples titled “Love wins, blessing service for lovers” is planned for May 10 with more than 50 Catholic parishes so far signing up to offer such a blessing.

Last month, openly homosexual German priest Bernd Mönkebüscher created a Facebook post to protest the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s March 15 declaration that the Church cannot bless same-sex relationships since “God does not and cannot bless sin.”

The Congregation stated that it is “not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex.”

Mönkebüscher called the Congregation’s teaching “outdated” in his declaration of protest created with the help of Burkhard Hose.

“In view of the refusal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to bless homosexual partnerships, we raise our voice and say: We will continue to accompany people who commit to a lasting partnership and bless their relationship,” the declaration of protest states.

“We do not refuse to celebrate a blessing. We do this in our responsibility as pastors who promise people at important moments in their lives the blessing that God alone gives. We respect and appreciate their love and, moreover, believe that God's blessing is with them. Theological arguments and insights have been sufficiently exchanged. We do not accept that an exclusionary and outdated sexual morality is carried out on the backs of people and undermines our work in pastoral care,” the declaration added.

Mönkebüscher told LifeSiteNews that his declaration has received the support of more than 2,500 individuals, 551 of whom are priests. The declaration has already been sent to the head of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing.

It is expected that many of the priests who supported the declaration of protest will be giving blessings to same-sex couples on May 10.

Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, who has called for the Church to reassess homosexuality, has stated that priests in his diocese who bless same-sex couples next month will face no canonical consequence.

Spanish Bishop José Ignacio Munilla Aguirre of San Sebastián reacted to news of the blessing event in Germany with a call to Catholics around the world to pray for the Church in Germany so that it be faithful to the Magisterium and not to fall into schism.

“I invite you to join a chain of prayer and fasting for the unity of the Church in Germany and throughout the world. Lord, grant us communion in fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church,” he tweeted April 14.

Cardinal Raymond Burke commented last month that defiance to the Church’s teaching against same-sex blessings shows that an “aggressive homosexual agenda” is dominating those who have been elevated as shepherds.

“The blowback is simply an expression of a worldliness, a mundanity, which has entered into the Church by which the aggressive homosexual agenda is now dominating even in certain ecclesial circles and even among certain bishops,” Cardinal Burke, who is the former head of the Vatican's highest court and one of the world’s foremost canon lawyers, told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo in a March 25 interview.

Burke went on to say that shepherds who openly defy the decree should voluntarily “renounce” their office.

“The bishop, if he's pained by what's declared by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, then he must examine himself with regard to his own coherence with the Catholic faith. And if he is not holding to the Catholic faith, then he should renounce his office. He has to be relieved of his office as diocesan bishop, because this is simply unacceptable. It can’t be,” Burke said.