Pope Francis. Image: PUNCH
Approval of same-sex couple blessings from Pope Francis.
A major victory for the LGBTQ+ community inside the Roman Catholic Church has been the approval by Pope Francis allowing priests to confer blessings upon same-sex couples.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church reportedly said that priests should be authorized to bless same-sex and “irregular” marriages in certain situations.
Having said that, the pope has made it clear that blessings are not a part of regular church services and have no place in civil partnerships or weddings.
A man and a woman, it went on to say, are the traditional spouses in a marriage.
On Monday, Pope Francis gave his approval to a document from the Vatican that outlined the move.
The Vatican argued that it should be a statement that “God welcomes all,” even though the text says that priests must make choices on a case-by-case basis.
During the introduction of the text, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who is also the prefect of the Church, clarified that the updated stance does not grant church recognition to same-sex couples.
The statement changes its tone without changing its position. Based on the conviction that God cannot “bless sin,” the Pope had previously stated in 2021 that priests are not allowed to bless same-sex marriages.
A blessing in Catholicism is a prayer or entreaty, usually said by a priest, asking God to bless the person or people who are receiving it.
October saw Pope Francis drop hints that he could be open to the idea of same-sex couples receiving church blessings.