Vatican says no heresy in allowing blessings for same-sex couples after pushback by some bishops

ROME (AP) — After pushback by some bishops in Africa, Poland and elsewhere, the Vatican on Thursday defended the recent move by Pope Francis to allow blessings for same-sex couples, insisting there is nothing “heretical” involved.

In a five-page statement, the Holy See's office to safeguard doctrinal orthodoxy expressed understanding that some bishops' conferences need more time for “pastoral reflection” on the pontiff's formal approval for such blessings.

But “there is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally” from the Declaration about the blessings “or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church or blasphemous,'' said the statement by the office, formally called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The new rule of blessings came last month in the form of a declaration, an important Catholic church document.

Some bishops immediately said they wouldn't implement the new policy.

“Prudence and attention to the ecclesial context and to the local culture could allow for different methods of application” of the new blessings rule, “but not a total or definitive denial of this path that it proposed to priests,” Thursday's statement said.

Still, the orthodoxy watchdog office on Thursday acknowledged that in situations where “there are laws that condemn the mere act of declaring oneself as a homosexual with prison and in some cases with torture and even death, it goes without saying that a blessing would be imprudent.” It added:

”It is clear that the Bishops do not wish to expose homosexual persons to violence.”

However, the statement called it “vital” that these bishops conferences “do not support a doctrine different from that of the Declaration signed by the pope.”

Thursday's statement took pains to stress the Vatican's position that “remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage, not allowing any type of liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion.”

The pontiff's approval reversed a 2021 policy by the Vatican's doctrine office which barred such blessings on the grounds that God “does not and cannot bless sin.”

The Vatican holds that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.” Catholic teaching says that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and woman, is part of God's plan and is intended for the sake of creating new life.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.