The first church blessing of same-sex couples in Poland has taken place at a service involving Catholic and Protestant clergy.

Practising Catholics Artur and Jan were among the couples being blessed:

“This blessing is very important to us; it is an extra injection of strength for our further life together,” Artur told news magazine Wprost. “We are both believers. Faith allowed us to survive the numerous crises that appeared in our lives. Sometimes it was the strongest anchor that kept us alive.”

Jan added: “We are ordinary people; we love and suffer just like everyone else…Hate is the most destructive feeling. And love of God and neighbour is the most important commandment resulting from the teachings of Jesus.”

The ceremony in Warsaw was led by the pastor of the Evangelical Reformed Parish Church, Michał Jabłoński, alongside a pastor from the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, Poland’s largest and oldest Protestant church denomination, and a Roman Catholic priest.

The Catholic church in Poland takes a strongly conservative position on LGBT+ issues. However last year the Vatican issued a declaration on Catholic doctrine, that allowed priests to bless members of unmarried couples, including same-sex partners.

Uschi Pawlik of the Faith and Rainbow Foundation who helped organise the service told Wprost that as a Catholic she understands how, for many of her fellow believers, blessing same-sex couples is unacceptable:

“But Pope Francis clearly shows a change in thinking about relationships in the Church and a transition from rigid rules and principles to pastoral flexibility… “There are more and more Polish Roman Catholic priests who support LGBT+ people.”