A GERMAN CARDINAL SUGGESTS THE POSSIBILITY OF BLESSING HOMOSEUAL UNIONS

Winchester, VA – Catholic News Agency is reporting that Cardinal Reinhard Marx said during an interview with the Bavarian State Broadcasting’s radio service that he believes Catholic priests can conduct blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. The lead-up to his statement was a discussion on various suggestions people have as to how the Church can improve, or get with the times– such as ordaining female deacons, blessing homosexual unions, or abolishing priestly celibacy. Cardinal Marx responded, in the context of homosexual unions, “We must be pastorally close to those who are in need of pastoral care and also want it. And one must also encourage priests and pastoral workers to give people in concrete situations encouragement. I do not really see any problems there. An entirely different question is how this is to be done publicly and liturgically. These are things you have to be careful about, and reflect on them in a good way.”  Host Karin Wendlinger then asked Cardinal Marx, “So you really could imagine a way to bless homosexual couples in the Catholic Church?” And the Cardinal replied, “Yes, however there are no general solutions. That would not be right, I think. It’s about pastoral care for individual cases, and that applies in other areas as well, which we can not regulate, where we have no sets of rules. That does not mean that nothing happens.”

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