BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has walked back her opposition to gay marriage, clearing the way for the issue to win approval in the German Parliament without her center-right Christian Democratic Union quashing it as a bloc.

The chancellor, who is vying for her fourth term in a September election, said Monday that she would like to see lawmakers vote according to their personal convictions, rather than toeing the party line of the CDU, which has long opposed marriage rights for gay couples. Since 2001, Germany has allowed same-sex couples to register civil partnerships, which afford some of the benefits accruing to married couples.

Her new approach, announced at an event sponsored by a women’s magazine, significantly increases the chances of passage. It comes amid mounting political pressure from rival federal parties, whose cooperation Merkel may need in forming a governing coalition should she be re-elected in the fall. The Green Party has gone so far as to take the matter to court, attempting to force a vote on marriage rights.

Opinion polls suggest most Germans support marriage equality. But Merkel could still face a backlash within her own party, or with its Bavarian counterpart, the Christian Social Union. Its president, Horst Seehofer, has opposed efforts to modify the group’s stance on gay marriage, at one point promising a ‘‘family-oriented offensive.’’

Washington Post