[ad_1]
ROME – The Vatican announced Monday that priests and other ministers cannot bless same-sex unions. According to an official note released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the bodies in charge of establishing guidelines for Catholics, “God cannot bless sin.” The decision is seen as a victory for the conservative wing of the Church.
The Vatican’s Orthodox office issued the determination in response to questions sent by some parishes about granting such blessings as a welcoming gesture to gay Catholics, as the Church currently does not allow same-sex marriage.
The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.” The decree also makes a distinction between welcoming the Church and the blessing of homo-affective people, which is maintained. But not from their unions.
COVID-19: Governors ask the Ministry of Health to restrict national mobility measures
The Vatican maintains that homosexuals should be treated with dignity and respect, but also that sexual relations between people of the same sex are “inherently disorderly.” And that Catholic teaching determines for the faithful “that marriage between a man and a woman is part of God’s plan and aims to create a new life.” The document concludes that “since same-sex unions are not meant to be part of that plan,” they cannot be blessed by the Church.
Remember: Understand the relationship of the Catholic Church and Pope Francis with homosexuals.
“The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which in themselves must be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and turn them into legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist in the context of a disorderly union to the project of the Creator ”, says the text.
Read More: Fraternidade 2021 campaign criticizes violence against women, blacks, indigenous people and LGBTQI +
God “does not bless and cannot bless sin: he blesses the sinner, so that he recognizes that it is part of his love project and allows himself to be changed by it,” he adds.
Pope Francis endorsed legal protection for same-sex unions, but this refers to the civil sphere, not within the Church. He made comments on the subject during an interview with a Mexican television station, Televisa, in 2019, which were clipped by the Vatican until they appeared in a documentary released in October last year. The statements, at that time, were considered the most forceful ever made by a Pontiff in defense of the rights of LGBTI + people.
“Gay people have the right to be in a family. They are daughters of God and they have the right to a family. No one should be discarded [dela] or feel miserable about it, “the Pope said in the documentary” Francesco, “released in October.
In Brazil, civil marriage between people of the same sex was authorized after a decision of the Supreme Court (2011) and a resolution of the CNJ (National Council of Justice), in 2013.
