The Catholic Church in Germany has so far paid more than $43.5 million (40 million euros) to victims of sexual abuse, German Catholic KNA agency has reported.

The pope warned there's a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully "ideological."

The Vatican has significantly limited the scope for church reforms in Germany. A letter from Rome which became public on Monday evening rejected the establishment of so-called Synodal Councils.

The bishops adopted the more liberal guidelines for the approximately 800,000 employees of the Catholic Church and the Caritas social services organization.

Homosexuals have a right to church support and blessing, said Bishop Helmut Dieser, who is the spokesman on abuse issues for the German bishops’ conference.

Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch apologized for offending people and said he never intended to imply that supporters of the German church’s Synodal Path were acting similar to a group of Christian supporters of the Nazis in the 1930s.