In a preliminary response to the Vatican document, Pope Francis suggested same-sex blessings could be offered if the rituals don't resemble marriage.

Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.

The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office, released Monday, elaborates on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if they didn’t confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.

The new document repeats that rationale and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.

But it says requests for such blessings should not be denied full stop. It offers an extensive definition of the term “blessing” in Scripture to insist that people seeking a transcendent relationship with God and looking for his love and mercy should not be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” as a precondition for receiving it.

  • SuddenlyBlowGreen@lemmy.worldEnglish
    393·
    7 months ago

    This is a PR move, don’t fall for it.

    Quotes from the man himself, on how much he actually supports marriage equality and LGBTQ peolle:

    “I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.”

    “What is at stake here is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother, and children. At stake are the lives of so many children who will be discriminated against in advance, depriving them of the human maturation that God wanted to be given with a father and a mother.”

    “[Marriage equality] is not a political struggle; it is the destructive attempt toward God’s plan.”

    “”[The push for marriage equality is] the envy of the Devil, by which sin entered the world, which cunningly seeks to destroy the image of God.”

    Don’t fall for their lies.

    • TheBananaKing@lemmy.worldEnglish
      162·
      7 months ago

      Yep - this is just derogatory and demeaning, underlining the exclusion in order to make it hurt more.

      If anyone doesn’t see it - just replace ‘same-sex’ with ‘black’.

      Fine, we’ll let you in the building, but only in the basement, and you don’t touch anything the white folk might want to use.