German Catholic priests performed a mass blessing of same-sex couples at the historic Cologne Cathedral on Wednesday (September 20th) evening in front of some 500 attendees, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported. The ceremony also doubled as a protest against Cologne Cardinal Rainer Woelki, who stands against the radical liberalization of the German Catholic church, and is also a sign of open defiance of the Vatican’s edicts.
According to the journal, numerous gay and lesbian couples were blessed at the event, while the crowd waved rainbow flags and sang the Beatles’ hit “All You Need Is Love.” About a dozen conservative Catholics demonstrated against the ceremony but were quickly surrounded by radical progressive counter protesters, who attempted to intimidate them by shouting and booing loudly.
Last month, a smaller same-sex blessing ceremony drew the criticism of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, who reminded the participating priests that the Vatican’s recent statement specifically prohibits the religious blessing of unwed but sexually active couples, which includes same-sex relationships.
The Cardinal’s comments led to a series of mocking and criticism from progressive clergy and laymen alike, who called Woelke’s opposition “incomprehensible,” and “backward”. Yesterday’s mass same-sex blessing was an explicit protest against the Cardinal and a few other German church leaders who still oppose the current wave of liberalization.
Berlin’s “Queer Commissioner” Sven Lehmann was also present to convey the support of the socialist-green federal government, calling the service an important milestone in the necessary recognition of same-sex couples in the Catholic Church.
“It’s mainly thanks to this grassroots movement that the Church is increasingly opening up,” said Lehmann, who is not only the federal commissioner for LGBT acceptance but also state secretary for family and youth issues. “Cardinal Woelki and the Vatican, on the other hand, are lightyears behind social reality,” he added.
The ceremony followed the adopted recommendations of the German ‘Synodal Path,’ a group made up of an equal number of progressive bishops and lay Catholics that set out to reform the German Catholic Church five years ago.
The last Synodal Assembly back in March ended with the adoption of several radical reforms, such as calling for the ordination of women and the abolition of priestly celibacy, legitimizing people’s self-assigned gender, and—of course—the introduction of official blessings of same-sex couples.
Naturally, the Synodal Path’s decisions triggered divisions in the German and international Catholic Church, with major church leaders around the world calling for the trial and removal of the German Catholic leadership that participated in the Assembly. Over 6,000 German Catholics also sent an open letter to Pope Francis to voice their opposition and to call for the Vatican to take action.
The Holy See published a statement in July that called the decisions “unlawful” and pointed out the group’s obvious lack of authority. In their reply, the Synodal Path organizers said they were shocked by Pope Francis’ intervention and implied that they will stick to their understanding of the “synodal Church” and keep the new rules in place in the participating dioceses.
