ROME (AP) 鈥� formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced Monday, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage.
But while the Vatican statement was heralded by some as a step toward breaking down discrimination in the Catholic Church, some LGBTQ+ advocates warned it underscored the church鈥檚 idea that gay couples remain inferior to heterosexual partnerships.
The document from the Vatican鈥檚 doctrine office elaborates on a letter Francis that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if the blessings weren鈥檛 confused with the ritual of marriage.
The new document repeats that condition and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings in question must not be tied to any specific Catholic celebration or religious service and should not be conferred at the same time as ceremony. Moreover, the blessings cannot use set rituals or even involve the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.
But it says requests for such blessings for same-sex couples should not be denied. It offers an extensive and broad definition of the term 鈥渂lessing鈥� in Scripture to insist that people seeking a transcendent relationship with God and looking for his love and mercy shouldn't be held up to an impossible moral standard to receive it.
鈥淔or, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection,鈥� it said.
鈥淭here is no intention to legitimize anything, but rather to open one鈥檚 life to God, to ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness,鈥� it added.
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, 鈥淲ho am I to judge?鈥� about a purportedly gay priest, to his 2023 comment to The Associated Press that Francis has distinguished himself from all his predecessors with his message of welcome.
鈥淭he significance of this news cannot be overstated,鈥� said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which supports LGBTQ+ Catholics. 鈥淚t is one thing to formally approve same-gender blessings, which he had already pastorally permitted, but to say that people should not be subjected to 鈥榓n exhaustive moral analysis鈥� to receive God鈥檚 love and mercy is an even more significant step.鈥�
The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. As a result, it has long opposed same-sex marriage and considers homosexual acts to be 鈥渋ntrinsically disordered.鈥� Nothing in the new document changes that teaching.
And in 2021, the Vatican鈥檚 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the church couldn鈥檛 bless the unions of two men or two women because
That 2021 pronouncement created an outcry and appeared to have blindsided Francis, even though he had technically approved its publication. Soon after it was published, he removed the official responsible for it and set about laying the groundwork for a reversal.
In the new document, the Vatican said the church must avoid 鈥渄octrinal or disciplinary schemes especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others."
It said ultimately, a blessing is about helping people increase their trust in God. 鈥淚t is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered,鈥� it said.
It stressed that people in 鈥渋rregular鈥� unions of extramarital sex 鈥� gay or straight 鈥� are in a state of sin. But it said that shouldn鈥檛 deprive them of God鈥檚 love or mercy. 鈥淓ven when a person鈥檚 relationship with God is clouded by sin, he can always ask for a blessing, stretching out his hand to God,鈥� the document said.
鈥淭hus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it,鈥� the document said.
The Rev. James Martin, who advocates for a greater welcome for LGBTQ+ Catholics, praised the new document as a 鈥渉uge step forward鈥� and a 鈥渄ramatic shift鈥� from the Vatican's 2021 policy.
鈥淎long with many Catholic priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex marriages,鈥� he said in an email.
Traditionalists, however, were outraged. The traditionalist blogger Luigi Casalini of Messa in Latino (Latin Mass) blog wrote that the document appeared to be a form of heresy.
鈥淭he church is crumbling,鈥� he wrote.
University of Notre Dame theologian Ulrich Lehner was also concerned, saying it would merely sow confusion and could lead to division in the church.
鈥淭he Vatican鈥檚 statement is, in my view, the most unfortunate public announcement in decades,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淢oreover, some bishops will use it as a pretext to do what the document explicitly forbids, especially since the Vatican has not stopped them before. It is 鈥� and I hate to say it 鈥� an invitation to schism.鈥�
Ram贸n G贸mez, in charge of human rights for the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation group in Chile, said the statement was a step toward breaking down discrimination in the church and could help LGBTQ+ people in countries where even civil unions aren't legal.
But he said the document was 鈥渂elated鈥� and 鈥渃ontradictory" in specifying a non-ritualized blessing that cannot be confused with marriage. Such a mixed message, he said, 鈥渢hus once again gives the signal that same-sex couples are inferior to heterosexual couples.鈥�
The Vatican admonition to refrain from codifying any blessing or prayer appeared to be a response to Flemish-speaking bishops in Belgium, for same-sex couples that included prayers, Scriptural readings and expressions of commitment.
In Germany, individual priests have been blessing same-sex couples for years, as part of a progressive trend in the German church. In September, several Catholic priests held a outside Cologne Cathedral to protest the city鈥檚 conservative archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.
The head of the German Bishops Conference welcomed the document.
鈥淭his means that a blessing can be given to couples who do not have the opportunity to marry in church, for example due to divorce, and to same-sex couples,鈥� Bishop Georg Baetzing said in a statement. 鈥淭he practice of the church knows a variety of forms of blessing. It is good that this treasure for the diversity of lifestyles is now being raised.鈥�
In the United States, the Rev. John Oesterle, a Catholic priest and hospital chaplain in Pittsburgh, said many priests would probably not be open to offering such a blessing, but he welcomed Francis鈥� action.
鈥淚 think the pope has learned to accept people as God made them,鈥� he said on Monday. 鈥淲hen I was growing up, the assumption was that God made everyone straight. What we have learned is that is not true. In accepting people as God made them, and if Jesus鈥� primary teaching is we should love and serve one another in the community, I think that鈥檚 what gives Pope Francis the openness to God鈥檚 presence in those relationships.鈥�
The on Sunday announced a similar move allowing clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples who have had civil weddings or partnerships, but it still bans church weddings for same-sex couples.
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Crary reported from New York. Patricia Luna in Santiago, Chile; Peter B. Smith in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed.
Nicole Winfield And David Crary, The Associated Press
