The letter to the Vatican's orthodoxy office, dated Wednesday and released Thursday, was signed by the heads of two groups in Germany and one each in Austria, Switzerland, and northern Italy's largely German-speaking South Tyrol region. The groups say they have about a million members in total.

"The church's mission to be effective as a sign of salvation in the world means countering homophobia and standing up for gender equality, also on the basis of human sciences," they wrote.

The organizations called for "a renewal of sexual and relationship ethics" in the Catholic Church and said there needs to be a "recognition of the everyday reality of people in same-sex relationships."

The open letter is the latest sign of pushback from the German-speaking world against a document released last month by the Vatican's orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which said Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex unions because God "cannot bless sin."

The congregation's note distinguished between blessing same-sex unions and the Catholic Church's welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld. The document argued that such unions are not part of God's plan and that any sacramental recognition of them could be confused with marriage.