The Vatican Secretary of State said it would be premature to discuss sanctions against the German bishops for blessings of same-sex couples. Source: EWTN News.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, however, did not rule out an intervention by the Holy See but expressed hope that it would be avoided.
“It is premature now to speak of sanctions. Let us hope we never have to get to sanctions, and that problems can be resolved peacefully, as they should be in the Church,” Cardinal Parolin told reporters on the sidelines at a book launch at the Patristic Institute in Rome on Wednesday.
Several members of the German Bishops’ Conference, citing the Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans, have formalised blessings for same-sex couples in their dioceses in Germany.
Recently, a 2024 letter was circulated from the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) prohibiting this practice.
Pope Leo XIV has also weighed in on the issue, recently stating that the Holy See does not agree with the German bishops with the “formalised blessing of couples” beyond the allowances of Fiducia Supplicans.
In 2023, the DDF published Fiducia Supplicans, which opened the possibility of blessing couples “in irregular situations” or of the same sex, without equating them to marriage.
The text specified that such blessings could not be performed with a precise ritual nor with signs characteristic of a wedding.
FULL STORY
Cardinal Parolin says talks with German bishops continue, calls sanctions talk premature (By Ishmael Adibuah, EWTN News)
Vatican publishes 2024 letter prohibiting formal blessings for homosexual couples in Germany (By Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News)
