A blessing service at St. Augustin Catholic church in Würzburg, Germany, for couples, including those of the same-sex, May 10, 2021. / Gehrig/CNA Deutsch.

Mexico City, Mexico, May 11, 2021 / 14:19 pm (CNA).

Fr. Hugo Valdemar, canon penitentiary of the Archdiocese of Mexico, said that the blessing that priests and pastoral workers gave May 10 to homosexual couples in Germany “is a truly sacrilegious act” and a “diabolical act of pride and immorality.”

The blessing of homosexual couples in Germany “is not only an act of indiscipline and rebellion against the pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), it is a truly sacrilegious act,” said Valdemar.

Priests and pastoral workers of the Church in Germany blessed homosexual couples in a May 10 event called “Love Wins,” held in more than 100 locations throughout the country with the support of several bishops, including the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg.

The event was in open rebellion to the explicit prohibition by the CDF, which said March 15 that the Church hasn’t the power to bless same-sex unions.

The CDF issued a “Responsum ad dubium” replying to the question, “does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” The doctrinal congregation answered, “Negative”, explaining its reasoning in an “explanatory note” and accompanying commentary.

Valdemar explained that “persons can always be blessed, even if they are sinners, but that which is in itself a serious sin and offensive to God, such as homosexual acts, cannot be blessed.”

The priest warned that the blessing of homosexual couples “is more than an act of indiscipline, it’s an actual defiance of God and his natural law, a contempt for Sacred Scripture that considers these acts as grave sin and an abomination, and  profound contempt for the perennial teaching of the Church on this grave sin.”

“In short, it is a truly diabolical act of pride and immorality,” the priest said.

Valdemar emphasized that “the Church does not discriminate against people with homosexual tendencies, on the contrary, the Catechism and various ecclesial documents call for deep respect and authentic pastoral charity towards them.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.”

The priest stressed that “what is unacceptable for the Church is the sin of lust, whether between heterosexual or homosexual people. Some ill-intentioned people try to make the Church’s rejection of sin the same as rejecting the sinner, which isn’t true.”

“For the sinner, whatever his sin may be, the doors of mercy will always be open, but the requirement for repentance and conversion will always be there,” he added.

Valdemar stressed that it’s important for Catholics in Latin America to be attentive to this situation in Germany “so as not to allow ourselves to be enveloped by this perverse mentality of gender ideology that is slowly permeating society.”

“In addition to being vigilant, we must call for the unity of the Church, which is undoubtedly at risk because what is happening in Germany is in fact already a lamentable schism,” he concluded.