German Catholic bishops have voted to bless same-sex marriages as part of the German Church’s Synodal Assembly, with blessings set to be introduced in March of 2026. Some have called the move schismatic.
The Synodal Assembly on the Reform of the Catholic Church voted in Frankfurt, Germany, to bless same-sex couples on Friday, with 176 of the 202 assembly members voting for the proposal, including two-thirds of the bishops in attendance.
According to a report from the newspaper Donaukurier, same-sex blessings have already been going on in the German church — but were in a canonical grey area and took place in private, rather than openly in churches.
The move stands in direct contradiction to the Vatican, which has explicitly declared that “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex.”
The Vatican argued that while God and the Church can bless individuals, including homosexuals, it cannot bless sin, including sexual activity that takes place outside of a valid marriage.
The issue of same-sex couple blessings is one of the main demands from the German Synodal Path, a series of conferences of the Catholic Church in Germany since 2019 that have been looking to greatly transform the Church.
The Synodal Way has proposed radical reforms, such as ordaining priestesses, declaring homosexual acts not to be sinful, and allowing all priests to be married.
According to the Catholic news website The Pillar, bishops in the Flemish region of Belgium have also been blessing same-sex unions since last year in September.
Bishop Johan Bonny claimed that despite the Vatican’s stance against the blessings of same-sex couples, Pope Francis had not commented on the issue and indicated that it was up to local bishops to decide.
Other bishops, however, have slammed the Germans, including U.S. Bishop Joseph Strickland, who stated on Twitter: “This action is schism plain & simple. As the Vatican made clear months ago, ‘We cannot bless sin’. The 38 bishops who voted for this need to repent and return to the Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ.”
“The president of every Bishop’s Conference around the world should denounce the schismatic vote of the 38 German bishops who have voted to bless same sex unions. We must speak out and call them to return to Catholic teaching. They have hardened their hearts to the Truth,” he added.
Last month, members of the Synodal Way, four women, announced they were quitting the assembly due to fundamental disagreements regarding the direction of the assembly and claiming it was looking to fundamentally change the Church.
The women also noted that major concerns about the Synodal Way from Pope Francis and the Vatican had been kept from participants.
The controversial vote comes just weeks after the Church of England also voted to bless same-sex marriages, with many of the conservative branches of the Anglican Communion reacting highly negatively to the vote.
Some Anglican bishops have even declared that they no longer recognize Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as the de facto leader of the Anglican Communion or first among equals among Anglican bishops.