The Vatican has accepted the “possibility of blessing” couples “in an irregular situation” or of the same sex without equating them to marriage, according to a document published today by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In the text, the prefect of the congregation, the Argentine cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, responded that “one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples, without officially validating their ‘status’ or altering in in any way the perennial teaching of the Church on Marriage”.
This possibility, which follows the will of Pope Francis, represents a change in position with respect to the one that the Congregation published in March 2021, then led by the Spanish Luis Ladaria Ferrer, and which said that the Catholic Church could not impart its blessing to unions of people of the same sex.
The “Declaration” is titled “Fiducia Supplicans: on the pastoral meaning of blessings” and is the first that the Doctrine of the Faith, the ancient Holy Office, publishes in the last 23 years, since “Dominus Jesus” (2000). .
First of all, it is a long text in which the origin and theological meaning of the act of blessing is analyzed, reviewing it from the Old Testament and the Scriptures.
“In his mystery of love, through Christ, God communicates to his Church the power to bless. Granted by God to human beings and granted by them to their neighbors, the blessing is transformed into inclusion, solidarity and pacification. It is a positive message of comfort, attention and encouragement,” the text reads.
However, despite the opening of the blessing of these couples, the Vatican rejects as “inadmissible” any “rite or prayer that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage”, such as those carried out by the German clergy. , which offers “acts of blessing” despite the disagreement of the Holy See.
“A ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation should neither be promoted nor provided for, but neither should the closeness of the Church be prevented or prohibited in every situation in which God’s help is requested through a simple blessing”, states the Doctrine of Faith in its “Declaration”.
The blessing of homosexual or “irregular” couples, that is, those who are not canonically married by the Church, may be preceded by a “brief prayer” in which the priest can ask for those blessed “peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue and mutual help”.