Not two, but four men had their relationship blessed in Berlin. (symbol image)Image: www.imago-images.de
A pastor in Berlin held a “poly wedding” – the relationship was blessed by four men. The church distances itself from the case.
The Berlin pastor Lena Müller shared the blessing on social media, where she posted a video and commented on the wedding ceremony Mirror writes. The ceremony took place as part of a wedding festival organized by the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg. Couples can say yes to each other there without prior registration. This year the festival was held as a “Pride Edition” for queer people, the report says.
According to Pastor Müller, it became immediately clear to them in a short preliminary conversation that the four men were serious about each other and about saying yes. You could immediately see that there was a lot of love between them.
“That’s why we as a team quickly agreed: What would God have against the fact that there are now four and not two?”
The post with the blessing made sure a lot of criticism of the pastor and anti-queer messages on social media. Müller and the church were also accused of supporting polygamy. Unlike polyamory (relationships without marital status between several people), this is prohibited by law in Germany. The Evangelical Church then defended Müller:
“We are horrified by the hatred she receives. We stand by them and condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”
However, those responsible made it clear that it was not a real wedding, as Müller first suggested on social media – but simply a church wedding and blessing. The pastor’s post on Instagram has since been deleted.
The responsible bishop was quoted as clarifying that the Evangelical Church would only marry couples who were married in a civil ceremony. Allegations of polygamy are therefore unfounded in this case. Pastor Müller had also previously commented on this to a local newspaper. But she also explained:
“I am definitely convinced that they really got married before God.”
(con)