The news website Gloria.TV reports the head of the Office for the Family of the Roman Catholic diocese of Graz, Fr. Michael Kopp, presided at the blessing of the marriage of two women last month. Photos from the service at St. Margarethen Church in Wolfsberg in the Diocese of Klagenfurt which have circulated on the internet have elicited sharp criticism from Catholic traditionalists, who note the ceremony violates canon law and church ethical teaching. The German and Austrian Catholic Bishops Conferences have pushed the Vatican to soften its opposition to same-sex blessings, but the ban remains in force. Fr. Kopp is unlikely to suffer any immediate penalty for his actions as the Klagenfurt diocese, where he served as director of its Office for the Family, is currently without a bishop.
