The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”, according to The Independent.
The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.
The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis was “negative.”.
Writing for Pink News, Patrick Kelleher said The Vatican has ruled that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions because God “does not and cannot bless sin”.
The comments were made by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith after a query was put forward to determine whether clergy can offer blessings to same-sex couples.
In an explanatory note published on Monday (15 March), the Vatican’s orthodoxy office told church members that same-sex couples must not be given blessings as doing so would be an affront to God.
The letter, signed by Spanish Jesuit Luis Ladaria Ferrer and archbishop Giacomo Morandi – and approved by Pope Francis – said some churches have begun offering blessings to same-sex couples due to “a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons” into their institutions.
However, the Vatican argued that a blessing can only be conferred on a couple’s relationship when they live according to “the designs of God inscribed in creation”.
The Catholic Church does not recognize same-sex marriage, which means a blessing for a same-sex couple would effectively endorse sex outside of marriage, the letter said.
“The 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’s plan,” the Vatican argued.
According to Euronews, The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”.
The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued the decision in a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.
The answer, which came in the form of a two-page explanation, published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative”.
The decree distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions since any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage.
