Vatican rules out blessings for same-sex relationships despite calls for liberalization

The document reaffirms Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality when several liberal bishops, including the head of the German Catholic episcopal conference, asked for the blessing of same-sex couples in close relationships. Priests in Germany have largely blessed these couples for years, as have the clergy in some other parts of northern Europe.

These blessings are wrong, the Vatican said on Monday, because they seem to “approve and encourage a choice and lifestyle that cannot be recognized as objectively ordained to God’s revealed plans”, adding that God “cannot and cannot bless sin. ”

German bishops have been involved with the Vatican in other matters, including the issue of giving Communion to Lutherans, and are unlikely to back down in their position to bless gay unions. German bishops and lay Catholics are currently involved in a national synod that is considering changes in aspects of church life, including the possibility of women in the clergy and teaching about sexuality.

A move by German bishops to approve the blessings of same-sex unions would exacerbate tensions with more conservative parts of the Church, including in Africa and conservative US bishops have criticized what they see as an excessively progressive departure from traditional teaching, with the archbishop of Denver warning in 2019 that German bishops are heading for a schism.

Pope Francis took a more liberal approach than his predecessors on some issues of marriage and sexuality, including divorce and homosexuality. In one of his pontificate’s most famous statements, he answered a question about gay clergy in 2013: “Who am I to judge?” During his visit to the United States in 2015, he met privately with a gay couple in Washington, DC

In comments published last year, the pope expressed support for same-sex civil unions, saying that gay couples “have the right to be legally covered”, a position he held as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

But the pope also wrote that “there is absolutely no basis for considering gay unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”

Monday’s Vatican document acknowledged “the presence in such relationships of positive elements, which in themselves must be valued and appreciated”, but said that such elements “cannot justify these relationships and make them legitimate objects of a blessing. ecclesial, since the positive elements exist within the context of an unordered union to the Creator’s plan. “

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, an official teaching manual, states that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered”, the inclination to practice them is “objectively disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved”. But the catechism also states that gays “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Any sign of unfair discrimination in relation to them must be avoided. “

The reaffirmation of traditional education on Monday is likely to disappoint progressive Catholics who hope for more change and to cheer conservatives, as the pope’s decision in February did not make it easier to ordain married men to the priesthood.

“It’s not surprising, but still disappointing,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which defends LGBT Catholics. “This decision, however, is powerless because it will not stop the Catholic people in the banks, nor will many Catholic leaders, who are anxious for such blessings to happen.”

The issue of homosexuality has clouded other Christian denominations, fostering the division with the worldwide Anglican Communion between liberal churches in Europe and North America and more conservative churches in Africa. Last year, the United Methodist Church agreed in principle to split over disagreements over same-sex marriage and gay clergy, although a meeting to approve the change was postponed because of the pandemic.

Write to Francis X. Rocca at [email protected]