Ha, ha! In your face, pope.
Quote:100 German Catholic Churches to Issue Same-Sex Blessings, Defying Vatican
This move goes against a document released in March by the Vatican's orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, that said Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex unions because God "cannot bless sin." The blessings for same-sex couples at worship services will begin May 16 in Berlin and will be led by the Reverend Jan Korditschke, a Jesuit.
"I am convinced that homosexual orientation is not bad, nor is homosexual love a sin," Korditschke told the Associated Press this past Friday. "I want to celebrate the love of homosexuals with these blessings because the love of homosexuals is something good."
He said he was not afraid of possible repercussions by high-ranking church officials or the Vatican.
"I stand behind what I am doing, though it is painful for me that I cannot do it in tune with the church leadership," Korditschke, 44, said, adding that "the homophobia of my church makes me angry and I am ashamed of it."
Germany's powerful lay organization, the Central Committee of German Catholics, or ZdK, which has been advocating for gay blessings since 2015, positioned itself once more in favor of them.
The ZdK has been taking part in the "synodal path" meetings for more than a year with the German Bishops Conference. They are due to conclude in the fall. The meetings include talks about allowing priests to get married, the ordination of women and a different understanding of sexuality, among other reforms. The process was launched as part of the response to revelations of clergy sexual abuse.
"We're struggling in Germany with a lot of seriousness and intensive theological discourses for the right path," Mock added. "Things cannot continue the way they did—this is what the crimes and cover-ups of sexual abuse showed us."
https://www.newsweek.com/100-german-cath...0068?amp=1
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"