Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples in defiance of a German archbishop

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Several Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne cathedral in a protest against the city’s conservative archbishop Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. Their protest service on Wednesday night was triggered by Cologne church officials’ criticism of a priest from the town of Mettmann near Duesseldorf. The priset held a “blessing ceremony for lovers” including gay couples in March. Officials from the Cologne archdiocese which Mettmann belongs to had reprimanded the priest afterward and stressed that the Vatican doesn’t allow blessings of same-sex couples. German news agency dpa reported that several hundred people showed up for the outdoor blessing service. They waved rainbow flags and sang the Beatles hit “All You Need Is Love.”