Pope Francis Permits Priests To Certify Same-sex Unions

Pope Francis

Pope Francis has formally permitted Catholic priests to bless same-sex unions

According to AP News, Pope Francis has officially allowed priests to bless same-sex couples. This marked a significant change in Vatican policy, as the document stated that those seeking God's love and mercy shouldn't have to undergo “an exhaustive moral analysis” in order to receive it.

The document, which was made public on Monday by the Vatican's doctrine office, expands on a letter that Francis wrote to two cardinals who lean conservatively and was published in October. In that initial reply, Francis said that if they did not mistake the ceremony for the sacrament of marriage, then in certain cases, such blessings could be given.

The updated text restates and clarifies that requirement, stressing once more that marriage is a sacrament that lasts a lifetime between a man and a woman. Furthermore, it emphasizes that the blessings in question must not be liturgical in character and should not be given concurrently with a civil union, through predetermined ceremonies, or even with attire and gestures appropriate for a wedding.

However, it states that same-sex couples' requests for such blessings should not be turned down in any way. It provides a comprehensive and wide definition of the word “blessing” in Scripture to maintain that “an exhaustive moral analysis” should not be a prerequisite for those seeking God's love and mercy and a transcendent relationship.

In the new document, the Vatican said the church must shy away from “doctrinal or disciplinary schemes, especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying.”

It stressed that people in “irregular” unions of extramarital sex-gay or straight-are in a state of sin. But it said that shouldn't deprive them of God's love or mercy. “Even when a person's relationship with God is clouded by sin, he can always ask for a blessing, stretching out his hand to God,” the document said. Offering such a blessing isn't legitimizing anything. But at the same time, the church shouldn't judge, he said. “Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it,” the document said.

“The new rule was issued in a declaration by the church's office on doctrine and introduced by its prefect, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, who said that the declaration did not amend “the traditional doctrine of the church about marriage,” because it allowed no liturgical rite that could be confused with the sacrament of marriage.

For a very long time, priests have blessed a diverse range of people by offering a prayer that begs God's assistance and presence. The Vatican had long maintained that it could not support same-sex unions since doing so would contradict church teaching, which states that a man and a woman can only be married. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Vatican declared categorically in 2021 that the church could not approve of a marriage between a man and a woman because “God cannot bless sin.”

Even Francis seemed taken aback by the uproar that document caused, despite the fact that he had given his formal approval for its release. He dismissed the official who had written it shortly after it was published and started to prepare the ground for a reversal.

“It is precisely in this context,” Cardinal Fernández wrote, “that one can understand 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.”

“Ultimately, a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God,” the document said. “The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live.”

He added: “It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered.” The document marks the latest gesture of outreach from a pope who has made welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark of his papacy. From his 2013 quip, “Who am I to judge?” about a purportedly gay priest, to his 2023 comment to The Associated Press that being homosexual isn't a crime. Francis has distinguished himself from all his predecessors with his message of welcome.