A group of Catholic priests is promising to bless same-sex unions, defying the recent guidance of the Vatican.
The group, called the Pastors’ Initiative, said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked” by the decision and promised “not to reject any loving couple who ask to celebrate God’s blessing.” according to Reuters.
“We, members of the Pastors’ Initiative, are deeply shocked by the new Roman decree that aims to prohibit the blessing of couples who love the same sex. This is a relapse in times that we hoped to overcome with Pope Francis
Pope FrancisCNN’s Don Lemon on the Vatican refusing to bless same-sex unions: ‘God does not care to stop people’ Rita Cosby to present new evening program on Radio WABC 77 Vatican: The Church cannot bless unions of the same sex sex MORE”Said the group.
“We – in solidarity with so many – will not reject any loving couple in the future who ask to celebrate God’s blessing, which they experience every day, also in a worship service,” they continued.
The Austria-based group was founded in 2006 and claims to have 350 members of the official church and more than 3,000 lay supporters, Reuters reported.
The group had previously advocated that the Catholic Church allow priests to marry and women to become priests.
The Vatican declared on Monday that the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions. He said in a statement that recognizing same-sex unions may appear to equate them with the sacrament between the union of a man and a woman, which would be “erroneous and misleading”.
However, the Church emphasized that “negative judgment about the blessing of same-sex unions does not imply judgment on people.”