German bishop authorizes same-sex blessings

Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann wrote to diocesan priests, deacons and lay pastoral workers saying that the blessings – which he also extended to remarried couples – could take place in churches in the Diocese of Speyer. “The ceremony must differ from a church wedding ceremony in terms of words and signs and should explicitly reinforce the love, commitment, and mutual responsibility in the couple’s relationship as an act of blessing.”