DDF publishes 2024 criticism of German bishops’ guide for blessing irregular unions
May 05, 2026
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CWN Editor's Note: The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has released a 2024 letter stating that “Blessings for couples who love one another,” a document then under consideration by the German bishops, violates Fiducia Supplicans, the dicastery’s declaration on the pastoral meaning of blessings.
The release of the 2024 letter (translation), written by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández to a German bishop, follows a defense of the German blessing guidelines by Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the former chairman of the German bishops’ conference, as well as Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s instruction to priests to facilitate blessings of same-sex couples.
Fiducia Supplicans states:
Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex, the form of which should not be fixed ritually by ecclesial authorities to avoid producing confusion with the blessing proper to the Sacrament of Marriage ...The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
One should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation. At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing.
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Posted by: feedback -
May. 06, 2026 8:42 AM ET USA
James Martin, SJ promptly paved his own synodal way the very next day Fiducia was released when he blessed a "married" gay couple and invited the NYT to witness and photograph the event. It's going to be hard to explain to the Germans why Martin could but they can't.
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Posted by: feedback -
May. 05, 2026 9:24 AM ET USA
The way to begin to repair the moral and the doctrinal division caused by Fiducia Supplicans would be to scrap it (along with Amoris Laetitia, and the Secret China Deal). This will require humility, supernatural faith, wisdom, and care for the salvation of souls.
