Priests across Germany are blessing same-sex couples in defiance of the Catholic Church after the Vatican said God ‘cannot bless sin’.

The blessings are taking place in around 100 churches during May, as part of a wider movement called ‘Love Wins’. The ceremonies have been a practice in Germany for years, but were previously performed in private.

Now same-sex couples are coming forward to receive their blessing ‘without any secrecy’, in response to the Vatican’s statement, approved by Pope Francis, banning the practice in March.

The statement described homosexuality as a ‘choice’ and argued that unions between same-sex couples were not part of God’s plan. It also said gay people must be treated with dignity and respect, but described gay sex as ‘intrinsically disordered’.

It sparked an angry response, and more than 2,000 Catholic priests, theologians and members of the Church signed a petition in favour of blessing same-sex couples in Germany and Austria.

In Munich, 30 couples took part in blessings at the the Church of St. Benedict, with church employees in robes holding up rainbow banners as part of the service. In Cologne, six couples were blessed at the Catholic Church St. Johannes.

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The movement’s organisers said the services had so-far taken place without incident, although one priest received hostile emails telling him he would ‘die and go immediately to hell’ before a ceremony on Sunday.

Juliana Weinmeister, who was blessed in Cologne with her partner Nini, said: ‘It was actually surprising for us too. We decided quite spontaneously to come here today because we heard about it this morning.

‘Now we’re completely overwhelmed because we didn’t expect it to be so touching.’

Andreas Helfrich, who was blessed alongside his husband Ralf Michael Berger, said the ceremony had been ‘important’ to him. He continued: ‘I was brought up Catholic, I lived Catholic and I also worked Catholic.

‘For me, heaven opened up again today because I’d been feeling a bit excluded, and I’m grateful that this exists and that we were able to experience God’s blessing.’

According to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Centre, around 93% of Catholics in Germany think society should be accepting of homosexuality. In the US, it was 76% of Catholics, and in Nigeria, just 6%.

German bishops and laypeople had already been holding a national synod on potential changes to Catholic life before the ban on same-sex blessings was announced. These could include liberalised teaching on sexuality and the ordination of women.

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