Pope Francis Blasts Those Who Oppose Blessing Gay Couples

In Rome, the pope has reiterated his support for homos*xual marriage and called out those who disagree with him as “hypocrites.”While speaking to the Italian monthly magazine Credere this week, the pope said, “I don’t bless same-sxx marriage.’” Instead, he blessed a marriage between two people who love each other and asked them to pray for him. Under the direction of Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández of Argentina, the Vatican’s doctrinal office changed its stance on blessing gay couples shortly before Christmas. According to the Vatican Declaration of Fiducia Supplicans, which was based on a “strictly liturgical point of view,” blessings must be in accordance with God’s will, although this is not necessarily the case when looking at them from a “pastoral” perspective. As Cardinal Fernández put it during his presentation of the Declaration, “One can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sxx couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” This broader pastoral understanding of blessings allows for a more inclusive view of marriage. The Vatican previously stated in March 2021 that the Church does not have the power to provide blessings to homos3xual relationships since God “does not and cannot bless sin.”To be really blessed, one must have “the right intention of those who participate” and “that what is blessed be objectively and positively ordered to receive and express the grace, according to the designs of God inscribed in creation,” as stated in the text that Pope Francis personally approved of.“Relationships, or partnerships, even stable ones, that involve s3xual activity outside of marriage, as well as unions between persons of the same sxx, are not licit to impart a blessing on,” it stated. In keeping with the Church’s long-established practice, the 2021 language specifically permitted the blessing of individuals, even those who commit serious sins, excluding the blessing of gay couples. The lack of acceptance towards the idea of blessing a gay couple “does not preclude the blessings given to individual persons with homos3xual inclinations who manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching,” the statement concluded. As if some people have a problem honoring people with gay inclinations, the pope seemed to conflate these two concerns in this week’s discussion with Credere. He criticized the practice as “hypocrisy” and added, “Nobody is scandalized if I bless a businessman who exploits people, but they are when I bless a homosexual.”In a joint statement, the Pan-African Bishops’ Conference emphasized that “in Africa, there is no place to bless homos3xual couples,” highlighting the significant backlash to the Vatican’s change of heart on the matter of homosexual marriage blessings. “I disagree. When asked about the individuals “vehemently protesting” the decision to grant the blessings, Francis responded, “Belong to small ideological groups.” He went on to say that Africa is a “special case” because, in their view, “homosexuality is something ‘ugly’ from a cultural point of view; they do not tolerate it.”Professor of theology Dr. Nina Heereman remarked, “while we fail to ask ourselves to what extent we are the ones succumbing to the pressure of the culture around us,” in response to the accusation that African bishops “are now being condescendingly portrayed as culturally conditioned.”