Pope comments on German cardinal’s decision on “gay blessings”

Pope Leo XIV aboard the plane returning to Rome after his apostolic trip to Africa. Photo: OSV News

On April 23, 2026, aboard a plane traveling from Africa to Rome, Pope Leo XIV spoke out against the official formalization of blessings for gay couples, OSV News reports.

The head of the Catholic Church explained that the Holy See had already conveyed its position to the German episcopate. According to him, the Vatican does not agree with formalized blessings for couples in “irregular situations,” including homosexual unions.

At the same time, Leo XIV sought to shift the focus of the discussion, saying that the unity of the Church “should not revolve around sexual issues.” He said that "there are much greater and more important issues, such as justice, the equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue.”

The pontiff referred to his predecessor Pope Francis’s phrase that “everyone is welcome” in the Church. He drew a distinction between general blessings for all people at the end of Mass and formal ecclesiastical acts for couples, which Rome still does not officially authorize. Leo XIV suggested that further escalation of the issue could bring more division than benefit.

In this way, the Pope commented to journalists on the decision of German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who had earlier proposed making blessings of same-sex couples and divorced people a norm in parish life.

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