unions were allowed in Dortmund. In September 2019, in the Swiss Roman Catholic Diocese of Basel blessings of same-sex marriages were allowed by bishop Felix Gmür. In May 2020, Austrian Roman Catholic theologian Ewald Volgger published, with the support of Roman Catholic bishop Franz Lackner, a book The benediction of same sex partnerships with liturgical advice, how a rite for blessings of same-sex partnerships might be conducted. In April/June 2020 Roman Catholic German bishops Helmut Dieser from Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen and Georg Bätzing from Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg said that blessings of same-sex unions in Roman Catholic church should be allowed. In September 2020, bishop Heinrich Timmerevers of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen supported blessing of same-sex marriages in the Roman Catholic church. In February 2021, bishop Peter Kohlgraf from Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz supported the blessing of same-sex marriages in Roman Catholic church. On March 15, 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the approval of Pope Francis, released a response to a "dubium", in which it clarified that the Catholic Church does not have the power to give liturgical blessings of homosexual unions. In an accompanying note, it stated: "it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex." In March 2021, Roman-Catholic bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck supported blessings for same-sex unions. On March 22, 2021, Roman-Catholic archbishop Ludwig Schick from Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg supported blessings of same-sex marriages. From May 16, 2021, many Roman Catholic churches in Germany planned to hold blessings of same-sex marriages in open defiance of the Holy See. The head of the German Bishops Conference has spoken against gay blessings but the lay organisation, the Central Committee of German Catholics, is in favour. This is part of a widespread movement for reform in German Roman Catholic churches. During the week of May 23, 2021, about 120 German priests held blessings including blessings of same-sex unions. Others in relationships the Church regards as sinful, such as attempted remarriage without a declaration of nullity, were also blessed; women preached from pulpits, which is prohibited by the teachings of the Catholic Church. In May