The Vatican ruled Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless homosexual unions – because God “cannot bless sin.”
The Vatican’s Orthodox Bureau, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.
The answer – approved by Pope Francis – was “negative”.
God “does not bless and cannot bless sin,” the seven-language note insisted.
“He blesses the sinful man so that he recognizes that he is part of his plan of love and allows himself to be changed by him,” it was said.
The CDF said the explanation “was not intended to be a form of unfair discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite.”
The decree stated that “persons with homosexual inclinations” should be “[welcomed] with respect and sensitivity “, but that homosexual sex is” intrinsically disordered “.
Catholic teaching states that God intends marriage to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman to create a new life, the note says. Because gay unions are not meant to be part of this plan, they cannot be blessed by the church.
“The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which in themselves must be appreciated and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and can make them legitimate objects of ecclesial blessing, because positive elements exist in the context of an unordered union of the Creator. the plan “, said the answer.
The blessing of a same-sex union could give the impression of a kind of sacramental equivalence with marriage – which “would be erroneous and misleading,” the article said.
However, the Vatican stressed that “negative judgment on the blessing of same-sex unions does not imply a judgment on persons.”
“The Christian community and its pastors are called to welcome people with homosexual inclinations with respect and sensitivity,” the note said, adding that the church “prays for them, accompanies them and shares their journey of the Christian faith.”
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