In April 2025, the Joint Conference of the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics published a groundbreaking guideline: “Blessing Gives Love Strength – Blessings for Couples Who Love One Another.”
The text officially recommends offering church blessings to couples who cannot enter a sacramental marriage – regardless of sexual orientation or canonical status.
The Church, as the guideline states, seeks to “offer appreciation and accompaniment to couples who are united in love.”
A step toward a new pastoral approach
The guideline emerges from years of debate about how the Church should respond to diverse forms of committed partnerships in contemporary society.
It connects to global developments – notably the Vatican declaration Fiducia supplicans (2023), which first allowed blessings for non-sacramental couples in principle.
But it deliberately goes further. It emphasizes human dignity, equality, and the spiritual longing of many couples to live their relationship “in the horizon of God.”
The focus shifts from moral defensiveness to a pastoral attitude marked by recognition and accompaniment.
Much freedom, little structure
Striking is the restraint regarding practical directives.
The guideline formulates basic principles – respect, grounding in Scripture, shared prayer – but intentionally refrains from prescribing a binding ritual. No fixed texts. No approved liturgical order.
Instead, ministers are asked to adapt the blessing form to each couple’s circumstances.
This openness acknowledges the diversity of contemporary life paths and aims to create space for blessings that are personally meaningful and spiritually deep.
Yet it exposes a tension: blessings are personal acts, but also liturgical actions of the Church.
Without an official order, it remains unclear how stable and reliable this practice can become within the wider framework of the Church’s liturgical life.
The call for liturgical clarity
Here many theologians and pastoral workers raise concerns.
While other forms of blessing – for the sick, for travelers, for children – are regulated in official liturgical books, blessings for couples still lack such a framework.
Those who want these celebrations to gain a recognized place in Church life, rather than remain private exceptions, argue for an official order – a ritual, or even a dedicated liturgical book.
Such a step would be delicate given persisting polarization.
Some German dioceses have not even implemented the guideline. Recent Vatican statements under Pope Leo XIV, which firmly reject blessing celebrations for LGBTQ couples, further intensify the situation.
Even more striking is the document’s own commitment: the request for a blessing should be “valued, accompanied, and received with gratitude.”
Between progress and conflict
The German guideline is both: a significant step forward and a mirror of unresolved tensions.
It opens doors, marks a pastoral shift, and creates an important space of recognition.
At the same time, it reveals how fragile this space remains without an official liturgical order.
- Dr Manuel Uder is editor of the journal Gottesdienst and a staff member of the German Liturgical Institute. www.gottesdienst.net