Pope paves the way for the blessing of homosexual couples
Is this the path to a modern Catholic Church? Blessing homosexual couples will be okay for the Pope within certain limits in future, but homosexual marriages will continue to be rejected.
Pope Francis has paved the way for the blessing of homosexual couples in the Catholic Church under certain conditions. This emerges from a letter published by the Vatican in Rome. According to the official German translation, it refers to the "possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples".
The declaration called "Fiducia supplicans" was published by the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. As head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis had previously approved it. It also states that, under certain conditions, a blessing "can be given to all without asking for anything". Such blessings are "addressed to all, no one may be excluded".
However, it is also expressly emphasized that such a blessing may not be ritually defined by the church authorities "so as not to cause confusion with the blessing proper to the sacrament of marriage". The declaration also affirms that sexual relations are only permitted within marriage between a man and a woman.
Francis had already indicated in a letter in the fall that he does not fundamentally reject blessings for homosexual couples. Those who ask for a blessing are asking for God's help in trusting that they will be able to live better, he said at the time. It was therefore necessary to assess whether there could be forms of blessing without conveying a false idea of marriage.
"Long overdue signal"
However, the Pope rejected official regulations on this by dioceses or bishops' conferences. Marriage is a union between a man and a woman. In Germany, blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples are already practiced in many parishes today, but take place in a grey area of church law. In 2021, the Vatican made it clear that it is "not permitted" to bless homosexual partnerships, as such unions "cannot be recognized as objectively ordered towards the revealed plans of God".
The approval of blessings for same-sex couples was a key demand for the German Synodal Path reform process and was approved by the Synodal Assembly in March.
The Federal Government's Queer Commissioner, Sven Lehmann, described the Vatican's decision as a "long overdue signal". "This means that all those in Germany who want to bless same-sex couples will also receive backing," he said. "There is no first or second class love. There is only love." However, a church distinction between regular and irregular partnerships, as made by the Vatican, is still discriminatory.
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The decision to consider blessing homosexual couples within the Catholic Church, as advocated by Pope Francis, has sparked discussions within various religions worldwide. This international discourse on homosexuality and religion could potentially lead to shifts in the broader societal viewpoints.
Despite Pope Francis' openness to blessings for homosexual couples, the Catholic Church remains firmly against the recognition or sanctification of same-sex marriages, as reiterated in the "Fiducia supplicans" declaration.
Source: www.ntv.de
