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Pope Francis has suggested blessing same-sex couples, though even supporters of such a significant change acknowledged it is likely to face intense opposition.
In a July 11 letter to five cardinals who had submitted questions, Francis affirmed the Catholic Church’s “very clear conception of marriage: an exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to begetting children.”
“Pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that do not transmit a wrong conception of marriage,” Francis wrote. “When you ask for a blessing, you are expressing a request for help from God, a prayer to be able to live better, a trust in a Father who can help us live better.”
The pope’s comments marked a sharp departure from a May 2021 Vatican statement that said, in part: “It is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex.”
Now, the pope who said of gay priests who seek to follow Jesus, “Who am I to judge,” has opened the door to a massive change for the world’s 1.378 billion Catholics.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released the comments Monday after the five cardinals, widely viewed as conservatives and one of whom criticized a major upcoming meeting in a recent booklet sent to every priest and bishop in the U.S., issued a demand for “yes” or “no” answers to their questions.
The cardinals are Walter Brandmueller of Germany, a former Vatican historian; Raymond Burke of the United States, whom Francis removed as head of the Vatican’s highest court; Juan Sandoval of Mexico, the retired archbishop of Guadalajara; Robert Sarah of Guinea, retired head of the Vatican’s liturgy office; and Joseph Zen, the retired archbishop of Hong Kong who was arrested in 2022 for supporting democratic groups.
The pope, who previously supported civil marriages for same-sex couples, is now indicating potential support for some church “blessing” to the couples as long as the partnership doesn’t resemble the marriage sacrament.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did not respond to requests for comment.
Francis’ suggestion encouraged LGBTQ Catholics such as Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of Catholic LGBTQ organization DignityUSA.
“Anything that shows that our church recognizes the sacredness that exists in love between members of same-sex couples is a tremendous step forward,” Ms. Duddy-Burke said in a telephone interview. “And [it] will give LGBTQ people and families lots of reasons to rejoice.”
She said DignityUSA has “been blessing and marrying same-sex couples since the 1970s. So we already serve as Catholic communities where gay, lesbian, bisexual couples, trans couples can come and have their relationships blessed, and we believe it is a totally sacramental experience for those people.”
Francis has “opened, I think, a pastoral way of welcoming LGBTQ people, especially those who are in relationships into the church,” said Ryan Di Corpo, managing editor of Outreach.faith, which bills itself as an “LGBTQ Catholic resource.”
“LGBTQ people, many of whom are Catholic and many of whom are in committed relationships, are as much a part of the church as heterosexual straight couples,” Mr. Di Corpo said.
Frank Pavone, president of Priests for Life who was defrocked last year by Pope Francis, said the pontiff’s threading of the sacramental needle is troubling.
“It is not enough to make an argument that something can technically be done or that we ‘might be able to find a way’ to do it,” Mr. Pavone said via email. “When people come away from us, there should not be question marks in their minds and hearts about what the faith means, but rather exclamation points in their minds leading them to live and proclaim it.
“What Pope Francis and his theologians want to ‘study’ or say is not my responsibility,” he said. “However, I will fulfill my responsibility, just as so many parents fulfill their responsibilities as they pass on the faith to their children, to clearly uphold the Gospel of Christ without confusion.”
The Rev. Frank DeSiano, president of Paulist Evangelization Ministries in the District, said Francis’ comments “seem to flow from [his] earlier statements about accompaniment” by the church of people on their spiritual journey.
“I suspect there will be a very big ruckus,” Father DeSiano said. “At the same time, most dioceses have parishes where gay people have been welcomed and accepted; this has gone on for years, and most dioceses have some kind of ministry to gay people.”
Ms. Duddy-Burke said her group also expects pushback in the pews.
“There already is division and difference of opinion in our church, and there are many who are campaigning for more restrictive laws and policies, as well as pastoral practices in the name of the Catholic faith,” she said. “Just as there are people who are out there supporting equality in all its forms.
“I hope that we can deliberate this and move forward in ways that are respectful and inclusive,” she added.
In Rome, Gerard O’Connell, Vatican correspondent of America magazine, a Jesuit publication, said the question of how blessings will be framed will continue to spark debate.
“It’s certainly an issue that will at some stage be given greater attention,” Mr. O’Connell said, adding that he believes the Diacastry for the Doctrine of the Faith “will probably come out with [a] further development of this question.”
The letter was published two days before a three-week synod, or meeting, at the Vatican where LGBTQ Catholics and their place in the church are on the agenda.
The letter from the five cardinals challenged Francis to affirm church teaching on gays, women’s ordination, the authority of the pope and other issues.
The cardinals didn’t publish his reply, but they apparently found it so unsatisfactory that they reformulated their five questions, submitted them to him again and asked him to respond with a yes or no. When he didn’t, the cardinals made the texts public and issued a “notification” to the faithful.
The Vatican’s doctrine office published the pope’s reply a few hours later, but without his introduction, in which he urged the cardinals not to be afraid of the synod.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the Rev. Frank DeSiano’s surname.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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