German synod father says Church could give ‘private blessings’ to same-sex unions – CatholicHerald
Bishop Bode says the Church could do more to support people in stable unions
One of the three German bishops who will attend next month’s Synod of Bishops on the Family has proposed that the Catholic Church might offer “private blessings” to same-sex couples.Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck said it was possible to see strengths as well as weaknesses in both gay relationships and in those of cohabiting heterosexuals.He said that the Catholic Church could not accept gay marriage because it understood marriage as a union between a husband and a wife that was open to the procreation of children.But the bishop said that since the Church was bound not to discriminate against homosexuals by the Catechism of the Catholic Church it should do more to support those who were in stable unions.