Full text of letter from Bishop of Speyer defying Catholic teaching on homosexuality
To all priests, deacons,
Pastoral and community advisors
and assistants in the Diocese of Speyer
Speyer, November 2nd, 2023
Dear fellow brothers,
Dear pastoral care staff!
At the last meeting of the
Synodal Path in March of this year, it was decided with a majority of 93% to
enable “blessing celebrations for people who love each other”. In the meantime, a Working Group set up by the
Bishops' Conference and ZDK was set up to prepare a handout in this regard. After the discussions and reflections on the
entire synodal path as part of the autumn bishops' conference, I would like to
address you on this important pastoral question.
For some time now, we have been
striving in our diocese to provide pastoral care, touched and moved by God's
humanity, for couples who, for various reasons, cannot or do not want to
receive the sacrament of marriage. Based
on my own long-standing pastoral experience, I am also moved by the great need
and the deep longing of many, not infrequently, deeply religious people for
God's blessing and the church's benevolent encouragement for their life
together with all the searching, failure, new departures and happy finds - that
is , with what makes human life so deeply fragile and precious at the same
time. For me, Jesus' instruction from
the middle of the Sermon on the Mount "Judge not, lest you be
judged." (Mt 7:1) has increasingly become an essential key for a pastoral
ministry based on the Gospel of Jesus, as I also see it in this the oft-quoted
words of Pope Francis, “Who am I to judge him?”
Both with regard to believers
whose marriages have broken down and who have remarried, and especially with
regard to same-sex oriented people, it is urgently time - especially against
the background of a long history of deep hurt - for a different perspective To
find a pastoral attitude inspired by the Gospel, as many of you have been
practicing for a long time. That's why I
campaigned for a reassessment of homosexuality in church teaching in the
Synodal Path and also voted for the possibility of blessing ceremonies for
same-sex couples. I stand by that. I hope that on the path of the World Synod
this urgent question of our time can also experience good further development.
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On this path, together with and
in the universal church, we can and must ask ourselves how we can approach
people who, out of honest faith, ask us for God's blessing in their community,
in a sincerely caring manner and, through the blessing, the salvation that
accompanies their life's journey to promise a bringing closeness to God and
thus to be able to give them a sign from the church that they belong in the
heart of our community. The blessing in
the name of the church witnesses to these believers that they are not left
alone by God in their situation and wants to encourage them to find their way
with God in the community of the church. It is clear that it is not about celebrating a
sacrament, but rather about a blessing. The
Church's primary task is to bear witness to the boundless and unconditional
love, affection and mercy of God. Acts
of blessing address people's deep longing for salvation, recognition and
security. Here it is important to
develop a pastoral approach that is sensitive to the injuries often suffered by
people in the church space. The loyalty
and commitment that is sometimes lived very sacrificially in such relationships
and therefore testifies to our Christian faith certainly has its own value in
the eyes of God and therefore also participates in God's history of blessing
and salvation with his people.
I therefore ask you, as pastors
in our Diocese, to approach such believers with great pastoral sensitivity and,
if they ask, to look for ways that are suitable for them so that they can
experience God's blessing for their shared journey through life. Nobody is forced to hold such blessings, but
my request also means that no one who carries out such blessings has to fear
sanctions. On the contrary, it is
important to me that we give these believers a clear sign of God's closeness in
the community of the church.
It may be that the domestic
setting (possibly also with the blessing of the shared apartment) is more
suitable for receiving a blessing. A
blessing ceremony can also take place in the church or at another suitable
location. The celebration must differ in
words and symbols from a church wedding and, as an act of blessing, should
expressly reinforce the love, commitment and mutual responsibility that exists
in the couple relationship. Empathy and
discretion are required here.
A handout from the German
Bishops' Conference with a suitable blessing form is currently being developed.
Until it is completed, the working aid from the Working Group for Catholic
Family Education and Pastoral Care (AKF e.V.) can serve as orientation and
guidelines. The 52-page publication is available for download from the AKF
(Association for Catholic Family Education) under the link www.akf-bonn.de.
If you cannot reconcile a
blessing with your conscience and understanding of your faith, then I respect
that decision. In this case, however, refer couples who ask for a blessing to
the Episcopal Ordinariate. In the future, they will be able to contact a
placement office in Main Department I - Pastoral Care and will be referred to
pastors in their region based on a list.
In this regard, I am grateful to
pastors who are willing to lead such blessing celebrations in the diocese
beyond their own pastoral care area. So that the list mentioned can be created
for further distribution, I ask you to contact the Episcopal Ordinariate at the
email address segenspenden@bistum-speyer.de by mid-November.
I cordially invite you all to the
training course “Appreciating Difference” on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, from
2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Caritas St. Hedwig Senior Center, Leipziger Straße 8,
Kaiserslautern. Experiences can be exchanged and questions can be clarified
there (registration at: pfarrei-lebensraeume@bistum-speyer.de).
Many couples' prayers for
blessing reveal a deep longing to be able to live their lives together under
the protection and guidance of God. What
is evident here is a longing for God that goes beyond boundaries that have been
drawn so far. This should be taken
seriously and points to the biblical promise of God's presence wherever there
is goodness and love. With the
possibility of blessing celebrations, we want to do justice to both God's mercy
and the situation of people. Let us take
this path together and remain in dialogue.
With my heartfelt thanks for your
pastoral service and in prayer, your Bishop
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