Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann of Speyer, Germany has authorized priests in his diocese to give church blessings to same-sex couples. He gave the same approval to ceremonies for divorced couples who remarry.
Bishop Wiesemann, in a November 2, became the first German prelate to give explicit approval to blessings for same-sex unions—although other German bishops have said that they will not take action to stop such ceremonies.
In his letter Bishop Wiesemann acknowledged that many priests have already offered blessings to homosexual couples, saying that his policy reflects “a pastoral attitude inspired by the Gospel, as many of you have been practicing for a long time.”
The bishop also assured his priests that he has “campaigned for a reassessment of homosexuality in Church teaching” and hoped that the Synod on Synodality will bring about a change.