EDITORIAL

The Germans Try to Do the Impossible

Posted

While the Church throughout the world continues to participate in the Synod on Synodality, another synodal way finished in Germany. In March, Catholic clergy and laity in Germany joined together in their final synodal session. There they voted overwhelmingly in favor of, among other things, performing blessing ceremonies for couples who love each other and are not married in the Church. These ceremonies include couples in same-sex or heterosexual relationships. This vote contradicts a 2021 Vatican declaration that “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex” or to bless any relationships that “involve sexual activity outside of marriage.” In other words, this is not simply a question of permissibility in Church law, but of impossibility. The Church cannot bless sin. The Germans are trying to do the impossible.
This is not the first time that Church leaders and members have tried to teach or do the impossible. After the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, the Church declared that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. Yet, in the years following the council, many if not most bishops adhered to the Arian heresy. This heresy declared that Jesus was not divine. Similarly in Germany today, despite the Church’s clear teaching, many perform blessings for couples in relationships outside of marriage. German Bishop Georg Bätzing said: “The practice of blessings exists, and we want to bring it to light. … It is good that we are doing this.”
In an interview with the Associated Press in January, Pope Francis said that dialogue is good, but “the German experience does not help… Here the danger is that something very, very ideological trickles in.” He continued: “We must be patient, dialogue and accompany this people on the real synodal path.” Hopefully the Germans can be brought back to doing what is possible.