17 Comments

I am one of those Catholics "from the outer parishes of the Limburg dioscese" and until recently a member of the lay general assembly and active in various other roles. There are some factual errors in your reporting. The Catholic church is Germany is not government funded. Instead, the tithe is collected on behalf of the church through the same payroll deductions as taxes, unemployment insurance and retirement contributions. If you leave the church, you don't pay anymore. That is not done just for the Catholic church but for all recognized religions including, for instance, the Old Catholic Curch in Germany, various Jewish denominations, etc. This difference is important. The Catholic bishops aren't looking at approval of their funding from politicians but instead watching the steady erosion of their membership (ca. 1% per year) as a threat to their frankly bloated finances. Secondly, I find it disappointing that your critique of the direction that the church in Germany is taking seems to be remain at the level of chastising it for disobedience rather than engaging with the theology. Catholic theology wasn't born whole and perfect but instead has grown and evolved as we have corrected grave and sinful error. I'd list slavery which seems to have been considered quite biblical not so long ago, blessing of wars (the National Catholic War Council coordinating the churches WW1 efforts and up to the Vietnam war, etc.), forceful conversion etc. but the shameful list could be extended to an impressive length, I'm sure, of issues where we have come to realize that Jesus' message has unfolded and revealed a deeper and more true and radical call to love, equality and inclusivity. Historical teaching on sexual ethics is long overdue for a similar correction. Love is a blessing and a joy to God. The commitment of two loving adults to each other and those around them is a beautiful thing no matter whether procreation is their intention or within their ability. The recognition of that union does not grant that blessing (that's God's gift to the couple) but it joins the couple in celebrating their union. How lucky we are to still be asked and to have them in the church and thank God for giving them the strength, the courage and the patience he gives people however he chose to make them - gay, straight or other.

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Nice to see conversation and debate, not shouting and rancor!

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The Psalmist says it's always good to have "brothers dwelling in unity." So it could be an excellent thing to have a special ecclesial blessing for two men, or two women, living together committed to mutual aid /support, chaste love and unity of life. . I heard an Orthodox monk giving a parish talk in which he viewed spiritual friendship as co-ascesis, co-patience, and co-martyrdom: a way to paradoxically share self-denial, hardship, holy dying-to-the-world, and death--in lifelong fidelity and prayer-partnership like monastics.

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Anshan,

Approval of same sex unions would not be a development of doctrine.

It would be a change in doctrine.

Huge difference.

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Ansgar, thank you for writing. I disagree on a number of points, but I'm glad we have a site at which people can discuss. I would be curious to know where the mainstream of the blessing advocates is on other issues - e.g. biblical revelation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; nature of sacraments, Christology - what else in the Catechism do they object to? Let's get it all out on the table, so we know where people really stand.

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