DDF responds to vademecum on blessings in Germany

Vatican News

The letter from Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dated 18 November 2024, concerning the draft vademecum of the German Bishops on blessings for extramarital unions, is a valid response also to the text entitled “Blessing Strengthens Love,” which was definitively approved by the representatives of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) in April 2025.

The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made this clear to Bishop Stephan Ackermann, Bishop of Trier and President of the Liturgical Commission of the German Bishops’ Conference, during the last meeting held in the Vatican with the German Bishops on 12 November 2025.

The Cardinal clarified that the 2024 letter, published recently on the Dicastery’s website with the agreement of Pope Leo, was “the one and only final response”, including to the text definitively approved in April 2025.

“What was said in that letter,” the Cardinal Prefect told Vatican News, “also applies to the text of the current Vademecum, which does not have the approval of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”

Indeed, although the final text differs from the original draft, it does not actually incorporate what was written in the 2024 letter because, although it speaks of spontaneity and freedom regarding blessings for extramarital couples, it proposes a kind of liturgy or para-liturgical ritual that is not permitted by the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans which was issued in December 2023. That Declaration states that with regard to blessings that "the Church has the right and the duty to avoid any rite that might contradict this conviction or lead to confusion" regarding marriage.

On the return flight from Equatorial Guinea on 23 April, responding to a question about the proposal to formalize blessings for homosexual couples in Germany, Pope Leo said that "The Holy See has already spoken to the German bishops."

"The Holy See has made it clear", the Pope said, "that we do not agree with the formalized blessing of couples, in this case, homosexual couples, as you asked, or couples in irregular situations, beyond what was specifically, if you will, allowed for by Pope Francis."