May 25, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former prefect for the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called it an act of “blasphemy” when clergy in his country recently blessed homosexual couples in outright defiance of Church teaching.
“This staging of pseudo-blessings of homosexually active male or female couples is, theologically speaking, blasphemy—a cynical contradiction of God's holiness,” Müller wrote in a May 24 piece published on First Things.
Earlier this month, Catholic clergy in Germany openly defied the Vatican’s recent teaching against same-sex blessings by offering blessing services across the country in over 100 locations as part of a campaign titled “Love wins, blessing service for lovers.” The campaign was launched in response to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asserting in a March 15 declaration that the Church cannot bless same-sex relationships since God “does not and cannot bless sin.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that blasphemy, which “consists in uttering against God — inwardly or outwardly — words of hatred, reproach, or defiance,” is a “grave sin.” The Code of Canon law states that those who “in a public show” blaspheme must be “punished with a just penalty.”
Müller explained in his article why marriage between a man and woman can receive God’s blessing while a relationship based on same-sex activity cannot.
“The legitimate and sacred place for the bodily union of man and woman is the natural or sacramental marriage of husband and wife. Any freely chosen sexual activity outside of marriage is a grave violation of God’s holy will (Heb. 13:4). The sin against chastity is still greater if the body of a person of the same sex is instrumentalized to stimulate sexual desire,” he wrote.
“In the Bible, God’s blessing is mentioned for the first time when man is created in his image and likeness. The institution of marriage shares in the truth that our creation as ‘male and female’ (Gen. 1:27) expresses the essential goodness of God. When a man and a woman freely assent and in marriage become ‘one flesh’ (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5), the promise God made from the beginning applies to them: ‘God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’’ (Gen. 1:28),” he added later in his piece.
The cardinal said that the nuptial blessing received by a newly married couple highlights how the conjugal act between a husband and wife is “not only good in itself and free from sin, but is also a meritorious procreative act that is counted toward eternal life.”
“The nuptial blessing is unlike other blessings and consecrations. It cannot be separated from its specific connection to the sacrament of marriage and applied to unmarried partnerships or, worse, misused to justify sinful unions,” he wrote.
Müller went on to say that what is currently happening in Germany with the bishops’ “Synodal Path,” along with acts of defiance such as blessing homosexual couples, amounts to a “heretical denial” of the Catholic faith.
“The scandal in Germany is thus not about individuals and their consciences. Nor does it signal concern for their temporal and eternal salvation. Instead what we are witnessing is the heretical denial of the Catholic faith in the sacrament of marriage and the denial of the anthropological truth that the difference between men and women expresses God’s will in creation.”
He criticized what he called the “German spirit” which he said is “prone to flights of idealism” for being the driving force behind German Catholics’ movement toward a new paganism that is disguised as Christianity.
“What is new in this theology that returns to paganism is its impertinent insistence on calling itself Catholic, as if one can dismiss the Word of God in Holy Scripture and the Apostolic Tradition as mere pious opinion and time-bound expressions of religious feelings and ideals that need to evolve and develop in accord with new experiences, needs, and mentalities,” he wrote.
The cardinal concluded by calling on Rome to intervene before the Catholic church in Germany disintegrates.
“For the sake of the truth of the gospel and the unity of the Church, Rome must not watch in silence, hoping that things won’t turn out too badly, or that the Germans can be pacified with tactical finesse and small concessions. We need a clear statement of principle with practical consequences. This is necessary so that after five hundred years of division, the remnant of the Catholic Church in Germany does not disintegrate, with devastating consequences for the universal Church,” he wrote.
Müller is also joined by Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, and other bishops and priests, in calling on Pope Francis to intervene to stop the Catholic church in Germany from going into “schism.”