American Catholics Split on Pope’s Blessing for Gay Couples
Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would allow priests to bless same-sex couples, a shift that angered some conservatives but was celebrated by those who said that the decision was a substantial step in moving the church toward greater acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q.
Catholics. “It really is a landmark and milestone in the church’s relationship with L.G.B.T.Q. people that can’t be overestimated or overstated,” Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland group that has advocated on behalf of gay Catholics since the 1970s, said. “This declaration is proof that church teaching can — and does — change.” Conservative Catholics in the United States, many of whom are deeply skeptical of Francis’ leadership, were disappointed.
Some reacted with anger and others with a sense of resignation. The pope’s decision was issued “in contradiction to the unchangeable Catholic teaching that the church cannot bless sinful relationships,” the conservative LifeSiteNews wrote.
The pope’s decision does not mean that the church will now marry same-sex couples. Priests may now offer blessings to people in same-sex marriages, although the blessings must not take the form of a liturgical rite that could be confused with the sacrament of marriage, and they cannot include “any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding.” The new rule upends the Vatican’s longtime assertion that blessing same-sex couples at all would undermine the church’s teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, including a 2021 ruling that said God “cannot bless sin.” The head of the church’s office on doctrine, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, wrote in an introduction to the papal document that it was “based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis.” In a brief and cautious statement, the U.S.
