{"id":20877,"date":"2024-02-14T10:54:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T15:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=20877"},"modified":"2024-02-14T10:54:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T15:54:02","slug":"pope-francis-condemns-hypocrisy-of-those-who-criticize-lgbt-blessings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/02\/pope-francis-condemns-hypocrisy-of-those-who-criticize-lgbt-blessings","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis Condemns ‘Hypocrisy’ of Those Who Criticize LGBT Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GIACOMO MORINI\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pope Francis said he sees \u201chypocrisy\u201d in criticism of his decision to let priests bless same-sex couples, possibly his most strongly worded defense of the move. LGBT blessings were authorized by a Vatican document called Fiducia Supplicans<\/em>, or Supplicating Trust, but that was met with significant resistance in the Catholic Church, mainly from African bishops.<\/p>\n

Francis told the Italian Catholic magazine Credere, <\/em>Nobody gets scandalized if I give my blessings to a businessman who perhaps exploits people, and this is a very grave sin. But they get scandalized if I give them to a homosexual. This is hypocrisy.\u201d Credere <\/em>released extracts of the interview a day ahead of publication. Francis, who famously said, \u201cWho am I to judge?\u201d when asked about homosexuality at the beginning of his papacy, has made it one of his missions to promote a more welcoming and less judgmental Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

Conservatives say this risks undermining the Church\u2019s moral teachings. Francis has defended Fiducia Supplicans on several occasions but acknowledged the pushback against it, saying, for example, that blessings do not amount to formal Church approval for same-sex unions. In late January, he said, \u201cWhen a couple comes forward spontaneously to ask for them, one does not bless the union, but simply the people who together have requested it. Not the union, but the persons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church teaches that gay sex is sinful and disordered and that people with same-sex attractions, which are not considered sinful, should try to be chaste. In another interview, Francis said he hoped critics of LGBT blessings would eventually understand them but that Africans were a\u00a0\u201cspecial case\u201d\u00a0in their opposition to homosexuality. Bishops in Africa have effectively rejected the Fiducia Supplicans<\/em>. In some African countries, homosexuality is severely punished, with prison sentences or even the death penalty.<\/p>\n