{"id":14838,"date":"2021-03-15T16:48:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=14838"},"modified":"2021-03-15T16:48:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:48:38","slug":"vatican-says-catholic-church-cant-bless-same-sex-marriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2021\/03\/vatican-says-catholic-church-cant-bless-same-sex-marriages","title":{"rendered":"Vatican Says Catholic Church Can\u2019t Bless Same-Sex Marriages"},"content":{"rendered":"
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pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Monday, the Vatican declared that the Catholic Church would not bless same-sex unions because God \u201ccannot bless sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vatican\u2019s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions, the Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n

The answer, approved by Pope Francis, contained a two-page explanation. It distinguished between the church\u2019s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it continues to uphold, but not their unions.
\nResponses were split. While the note pleased conservatives, it disheartened advocates for LGBT Catholics. It also confused the debate within the German church, leading the discussion on hot-button issues like the church\u2019s teaching on homosexuality.<\/p>\n

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a ministry that advocates for greater acceptance of gays in the church, said he predicts the Vatican position would be ignored, including by some Catholic clergy.<\/p>\n

\u201cCatholic people recognize the holiness of the love between committed same-sex couples and recognize the love as divinely inspired and divinely supported and thus meets the standard to be blessed,\u201d DeBernardo said in a statement.<\/p>\n

According to Catholic teaching, marriage is a lifelong union between a man and woman and is part of God\u2019s plan. Marriage is intended for the sake of creating new life. Because gay unions aren\u2019t intended to be part of God’s plan, they can\u2019t be blessed by the church, the document said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator\u2019s plan,\u201d the response said.<\/p>\n

God \u201cdoes not and cannot bless sin: He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

In the past, Pope Francis has supported providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions, but this was in reference to the civil sphere, not within the church. These comments were made during a 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster, Televisa. They were censored by the Vatican until they appeared in a 2020 documentary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, the Vatican declared that the Catholic Church would not bless same-sex unions because God \u201ccannot bless sin.\u201d The Vatican\u2019s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions, the Associated Press reports. The answer,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":14841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[623],"tags":[715,1755,2348,3321,701,2203],"class_list":["post-14838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic-news","tag-catholic-church","tag-catholic-news-2","tag-pope-francis","tag-same-sex-unions","tag-same-sex-marriage","tag-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nVatican Says Catholic Church Can\u2019t Bless Same-Sex Marriages<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God \u2018Can\u2019t Bless Sin\u2019: Vatican Says Catholic Church Can\u2019t Bless Same-Sex Marriages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Monday, the Vatican declared that the Catholic Church would not bless same-sex unions because God \u201ccannot bless sin.\u201d The Vatican\u2019s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions, the Associated Press reports. 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