Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Pope Francis officially allows the Catholic Church to bless same-sex couples, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) under certain circumstances. This decision aims to make the church more inclusive.
Reporting from BBC International, the Vatican stated that this blessing was a sign “God welcomes everyone.” However, the document signed by Pope Francis on Monday (18/12/2023) states that priests must make decisions on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, pastors “must not hinder or prohibit the Church's closeness to the faithful in any situation where they seek God's help through simple blessings.”
The Roman Catholic Church leader said priests should be allowed to bless same-sex and “non-conventional” couples in certain circumstances.
“People who receive blessings do not have to have previous moral perfection,” said the declaration, quoted on Tuesday (16/1/2024).
However, the Vatican said that blessings should not be part of the Church's routine rituals or associated with civil marriages. Because, the Church must still see marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman.
Introducing the text, the Church's prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, said the new declaration remained “steadfast to the Church's traditional doctrine on marriage.”
However, he said that in keeping with the Pope's vision to expand religious teachings in line with the call of the Catholic Church, the new guidelines allow priests to bless relationships that are still considered sinful.
In the Catholic Church, a blessing is a prayer or request. Generally, a blessing is given by a priest, asking God to look favorably on the person or persons being blessed.
Reporting from CNN International, so far the Catholic Church teaches that sexual relations can only take place within marriage. The Church cannot grant “liturgical blessings” to same-sex or unmarried couples because doing so could “offer a form of moral legitimacy to unions that presuppose sexual intercourse into marriage or sexual practices outside of marriage.”
Cardinal Fernández stressed that this new stance does not validate the status of same-sex couples in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
This declaration reflects a loosening of the stance of the Catholic Church, although not a change of position. In 2021, the Pope said that priests cannot bless same-sex marriages because God cannot “bless sin”.
However, Pope Francis had signaled in October that he was open to blessing same-sex couples. Some bishops in certain countries have previously allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, although the position of Church authority remains unclear.
Rejection from conservative groups
The Vatican's decision to embrace LGBT groups will likely be opposed by conservative groups who already criticized the Pope when he made his first comments on the issue in October 2023.
Professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame in the United States (US), Ulrich L. Lehner, said the new guidance from the Vatican “invites misunderstanding and will create confusion.”
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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