Munich (dpa) – The Church of St Benedict in the southern German city of Munich is planning a service to bless a homosexual couple on Sunday in defiance of Catholic Church teaching as recently underlined by the Vatican.

“It was not so easy to find a church,” said Renate Spannig, spokesperson for the reform initiative Maria 2.0, which is co-organizing the service scheduled for 4:30 pm (1430 GMT).

Under the motto #liebegewinnt (love wins), a number of events are planned around the main day of action on Monday, one week before the International Day against Homophobia, including church services all over Germany.

Blessings are expected to take place in many cities and towns, including Munich, Wuerzburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen and Berlin. There is a clear focus on the north and west of the country.

There are only four planned blessing Masses in the majority-Catholic state of Bavaria: three in Wuerzburg and Sunday’s one in Munich.

Catholic priests in Germany have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Vatican ban and have said they want to bless all loving couples, whether gay or straight. Lay members of the church have also expressed their opposition to the Vatican’s stance.

Maria 2.0 is a grass-roots reform initiative, which among other things campaigns for greater roles for women in the Catholic Church.