A German Protestant church body says it is “shocked” by criticism leveled against one of its pastors for blessing the “marriage” of four men.

The Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg has defended Lena Müller, a pro-LGBT minister, after she shared a picture of the blessing on Instagram, saying: “We are appalled by the hate directed at her. We stand with her and condemn these attacks in the strongest terms. We stand with those who are experiencing hostility.”

The four men had attended a “pop-up” wedding fair hosted by the church, where couples could receive a blessing without registering for marriage in advance.

The now-deleted post read: “Four young men said ‘yes’ to each other, celebrated love with us, and placed themselves under G*d’s colorful blessing.”

Lena Müller told NOZ: “You could see straight away that there was a lot of love between them.

“That’s why the team quickly agreed: What could God have against there now being four instead of two?”

The Protestant Church in Germany said the incident had not been a legitimate church ceremony, as the four men were not married under civil law.

In Germany, bigamy is illegal—but some exceptions have been made for Muslim immigrants who already have multiple wives.