The open challenge from the German episcopate to the Vatican has entered, according to Father Santiago Martín, a decisive phase that directly compromises the authority of Pope Leo XIV and the credibility of the Church’s government.
In an analysis broadcast on Magnificat TV, the founder of the Franciscans of Mary argues that the German bishops’ refusal to withdraw the benedictional for homosexual couples, divorced and remarried individuals, and cohabiting couples constitutes an unprecedented recent public disobedience and that, if it does not end in sanctions, it will demonstrate that «those who rule the Church are not the Pope, but the god of money.»
The immediate origin of the conflict dates back to November 2024, when the German episcopate sent a draft benedictional inspired by the declaration Fiducia supplicans to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. According to Santiago Martín’s account, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández responded just a few days later rejecting the text and demanding modifications. However, the letters remained secret and, months later, in April 2025, with Pope Francis recently deceased and the Holy See vacant, the German bishops published the benedictional anyway without addressing the Roman objections.
The priest considers it particularly grave that the publication occurred «with the Pope still present in body,» interpreting it as a deliberate gesture of defiance taking advantage of the power vacuum in Rome. From there, numerous German dioceses began to apply the liturgical blessings to couples in irregular situations, while the Vatican maintained silence.
The situation escalated definitively when Cardinal Reinhard Marx ordered on April 20 that priests in Munich apply the benedictional throughout the archdiocese. Just three days later, Pope Leo XIV responded publicly during the return flight from Africa, stating that the Holy See «does not agree with the formalized blessing of homosexual couples or those in irregular situations.»
For Santiago Martín, Cardinal Marx’s subsequent gesture further aggravated the crisis. The Archbishop of Munich described critics of the German synodal path as «reactionaries» and claimed that those attacks came from the United States. Many interpreted those words as an indirect allusion to the Pontiff himself, who is American and had just spoken out against the benedictional.
The tension increased when the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith finally published, on May 3, the letter sent in 2024 rejecting the German benedictional. This publicly confirmed that Rome had been tolerating an open disobedience for nearly two years without adopting disciplinary measures. Father Santiago Martín considers this fact to have exposed «the passivity of the Vatican in enforcing the law it promulgates itself.»
In his analysis, he contrasts the treatment given to the German bishops with that received by prelates considered conservatives, such as Joseph Strickland or Daniel Fernández Torres, who were removed from their positions without comparable doctrinal accusations. In his view, the difference can only be understood by the enormous economic weight of the German Church within Vatican finances.
The Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, recently hinted at the possibility of canonical sanctions, although he expressed his desire to avoid disciplinary measures. For Santiago Martín, that mere mention demonstrates that Rome has reached «the limit.» However, he warns that time is running against the Pope: if Germany does not rectify soon and the Vatican does not act, the pontifical authority will suffer irreversible damage.
The priest concludes with a particularly harsh statement: «It would be more honest to remove the crucifixes and put up a golden calf.» According to him, if the German disobedience ends without consequences, it will demonstrate that the true power in the Church does not reside in Rome or in Catholic doctrine, but in the economic capacity of the German Church.
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Father Santiago Martín analyzes on Magnificat TV the German rebellion, homosexual blessings, and the authority of the Pope.