Vatican Slams Door Shut On Gay Unions
The Catholic Church has made an official stance on gay marriage, confirming that it “will not bless gay unions”.
In a statement Monday, the church has confirmed that it does not support same-sex marriage, saying it “cannot bless sin”. It cannot bless a fake marriage or homosexual marriage.
This was the church’s stance in response to the question, “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” In a written statement, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, says no. Citing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, writes: “There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”
Senior Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency, Hannah Brockhaus, explained in the video below why the Vatican decided to clarify this now and whether people who have homosexual inclinations can receive a blessing from a priest.
According to The Associated Press, the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.”
The note distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions. It argued that such unions are not part of God’s plan and that any sacramental recognition of them could be confused with marriage.
The note immediately pleased conservatives, disheartened advocates for LGBT Catholics, and threw a wrench in the debate within the German church, which has been at the forefront of opening discussion on hot-button issues such as the church’s teaching on homosexuality.
However, Monday’s announcement by the Vatican that same-sex unions are sin and can’t be blessed by the Roman Catholic Church has stung LGBTQ members of the church in the United States.
The Catholic League’s President, Bill Donohue, stated, “There will be no recognition of homosexual unions or marriage by the Catholic Church. It is non-negotiable. End of story.
“Pope Francis has been under considerable pressure by gay activists, in and out of the Church, to give the green light to gay marriage. The statement released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to queries on this issue is the most decisive rejection of those efforts ever written.
“The Church’s top doctrinal office said, “it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, 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.” It further noted that “since blessings on persons are in a relationship with the sacraments, the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit.”
“The statement made it clear that this “does not preclude the blessings given to individual persons with homosexual inclinations, who manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching.” It is homosexual unions that are the problem, not homosexuals.
“Speaking of homosexuality, Vatican officials said it cannot “approve and encourage a choice and a way of life” that is “objectively disordered.” God, they declared, “does not and cannot bless sin.” In short, “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex.”
