Vatican allows RCC priests to bless same-sex couples

Pope Francis. Photo: bild.de

The Roman Catholic Church's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has published a document explaining exactly in which situations homosexual couples can be blessed.

The text, entitled "Fiducia supplicans" ("Calling for trust"), allows "same-sex couples to be blessed, but without any type of ritualization or offering the impression of a marriage".

At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church emphasises that this permission to "bless" homosexual couples does not change "the doctrine of marriage" and that "the blessing does not signify approval of the union".

"When two people request a blessing, even if their situation as a couple is “irregular,” it will be possible for the ordained minister to consent. However, this gesture of pastoral closeness must avoid any elements that remotely resemble a marriage rite," the Declaration "Fiducia supplicans".

The document considers “the possibility of welcoming even those who do not live according to the norms of Christian moral doctrine but humbly request to be blessed”.

In this regard, the declaration "implies a real development from what has been said about blessings up until now, reaching an understanding of the possibility “of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage".

The RCC states inadmissible "rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage” and “what contradicts it". It is reiterated that according to the “perennial Catholic doctrine” only sexual relations between a man and a woman in the context of marriage are considered lawful.

The Vatican specified that "the Church does not have the power to impart a liturgical blessing on irregular or same-sex couples". However, the document went on to say, "Those who ask for a blessing show themselves “to be in need of God’s saving presence” in their lives by expressing “a petition for God’s assistance, a plea to live better”. This request should be received and valued “outside of a liturgical framework” when found “in a realm of greater spontaneity and freedom”.

When seeing them from the perspective of popular piety, “blessings should be evaluated as acts of devotion.” Those requesting a blessing “should not be required to have prior moral perfection” as a precondition, the Declaration notes.

The Vatican states that this type of blessing "is offered to all without requiring anything,” helping people feel that they are still blessed despite their mistakes and that “their heavenly Father continues to will their good and to hope that they will ultimately open themselves to the good.

"Blessing" homosexual couples in the Vatican has been compared to the blessing people ask on the street from a random priest they meet.

It further writes, "Although in a union that cannot be compared in any way to a marriage, desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and truth.”

These "blessings" should not necessarily become the norm, the Declaration notes but entrusted to “a practical discernment in particular circumstances”.

It also says that "the couple is blessed but not the union" and "a legitimate relationship between two people is blessed," and in "a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance—but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfil his will completely".

It is specified that to avoid "any form of confusion or scandal" when a same-sex couple or a couple "irregular situation" (cohabitants - Ed.) ask for a "blessing", “it should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding."

The document is signed by Cardinal Victor Fernandez, prefect of the Office for the Doctrine of the Faith, and is explicitly authorised by Pope Francis.

As earlier reported, according to the RCC cardinal, hierarchs who favour the "blessing" of same-sex couples should be put on trial.

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