This Monday, the Vatican officially authorized the blessing of same-sex couples, “in an irregular situation” for the Church, maintaining its opposition to homosexual marriage.
It is the first time that the Church has pronounced itself so clearly on the blessing of same-sex couples, an issue that generates tensions within the institution, due to the strong opposition of the conservative sector, particularly in the United States.
This blessing “will not be carried out at the same time as civil union rites, nor even in relation to them,” states in the document the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, an organ of the Holy See, approved by the Pope. Francisco.
“It is possible to bless couples in an irregular situation and same-sex couples, in a way that should not be ritually fixed by ecclesiastical authorities, so as not to create confusion with the specific blessing of the sacrament of marriage,” the document explains. published in several languages throughout the Vatican.
Despite the lack of recognition by the Holy See, some priests already practiced blessing same-sex couples, especially in Belgium and Germany.
This statement comes six weeks after the end of the general assembly of the Synod for the Future of the Catholic Church, a global consultative meeting, during which bishops, women and lay people debated social issues such as the reception of LGBT+ people or marriages of divorced people. .
In early October, five conservative cardinals publicly demanded that Pope Francis reaffirm Catholic doctrine on gay couples, but the Synod’s final document left this issue aside.
In 2021, the Vatican reaffirmed that it considered homosexuality a “sin” and confirmed the impossibility of same-sex couples receiving holy matrimony.
Since his election in 2013, Francis has insisted on the importance of a Church “open to all” and has taken several measures that have drawn the ire of conservatives.
Source: TSF
