Pope Francis suggests same sex couples could receive blessings in Vatican U-turn
Pope Francis has suggested that there could be ways to bless same-sex couples on a case-by-case basis but maintained that the Church would not recognise gay marriage.
The statement comes at a time when several progressive Catholic priests in a number of countries, including Germany, have begun blessing same-sex couples, often defying conservative archbishops.
The pope made his opinion known in one answer to five questions from five conservative cardinals – prelates from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas – who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality.
Pope Francis was sent a set of formal questions known as “dubia” or doubts ahead of a global gathering at the Vatican that will commence on Wednesday to decide the future of the Church and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics.
The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on 11 July, where he suggested that such blessings could be studied if they didn’t confuse the blessing with marriage.
Francis in his seven-point response said the Church was very clear that marriages could be only between a man and a woman and that the Church should avoid any other ritual that contradicted his teaching.
He said “pastoral charity should permeate all our decisions and attitudes”, adding that “we cannot be judges who only deny, reject and exclude”.
“For this reason, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of benediction, requested by one or more persons, that do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage,” he wrote.
“Because when a benediction is requested, it is expressing a request for help from God, a plea to be able to live better, a trust in a father who can help us to live better.” He noted that there are situations that are objectively “not morally acceptable”.
The Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not sinful but homosexual acts are.
The pope’s response marks a reversal from the Vatican’s current official position. In 2021 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the Church couldn’t bless gay unions because “God cannot bless sin”.
New Ways Ministry, which advocates LGBTQ+ Catholics, said the letter “significantly advances” efforts to make the community welcomed in the Church and is “one big straw towards breaking the camel’s back”.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the ministry, in a statement, said the pope’s words implied “that the church does indeed recognise that holy love can exist between same-gender couples, and the love of these couples mirrors the love of God”.
With agency inputs
