In a groundbreaking move, Pope Francis has officially sanctioned the blessing of same-sex couples, marking a significant shift in Vatican policy.
After Pope Francis earlier this year opened the door in certain circumstances to giving blessings to same-sex couples, the Vatican’s doctrinal office has published a lengthy note explaining the pastoral grounds for these blessings, and spelling out the details of how and where they are to be given.
The announcement, accompanied by a newly released document titled “Fiducia Supplicans,” emphasizes a compassionate and inclusive pastoral approach, asserting that individuals seeking God’s love and mercy should not undergo an exhaustive moral analysis.
The document, issued by the Vatican’s doctrine office, reinforces the Church’s commitment to providing blessings in various life situations.
It states, “One should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing.” This signals a departure from stringent moral prerequisites for receiving blessings, emphasizing the importance of trust in God.
The Vatican says that this shift in policy does not alter the Church’s position on marriage.
The document says that blessings of same-sex couples should not suggest even the trappings of sacramental marriage — including traditional wedding vestments — or even ceremonies formally recognizing same-sex unions.
But it offers guidelines for offering benedictions to people in same-sex relationships and explicitly permits “ordained ministers” to conduct such blessings while asking priests to use their own “prudent and fatherly discernment” to decide when doing so is appropriate.
The document maintains a firm stance on the traditional doctrine of marriage, clarifying that the blessing of same-sex couples does not confer any form of moral legitimacy to their unions.
Pope Francis also recently upheld the church’s ban on women priests, although he suggested that the doctrine can still be studied.
“Therefore, rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage—which is the ‘exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children’—and what contradicts it are inadmissible,” it said.
It affirms that liturgical rites related to marriage remain exclusive to heterosexual couples, preserving the Church’s doctrinal integrity.
Pope Francis seems to have lost patience with his critics, who have resisted his attempts to broaden the religion’s appeal as society
The Vatican announced that Bishop Joseph Strickland had been fired from his job of leading the diocese of Tyler, Texas, on Nov. 11. Strickland, a 65-year-old radical traditionalist, spent years escalating his dissident commentary, going so far as to question the Pope’s legitimacy and accuse Francis of “undermining” sacred truths.
On November 208, 2023, Pope Francis reportedly evicted Cardinal Raymond Burke from his subsidized Vatican apartment and removed his salary as a retired cardinal over public clashes concerning measures to relax church attitudes towards gay people and Catholics who have divorced and remarried outside the church.
Burke previously gained notoriety when he called on American bishops to withhold the Eucharist from Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion.
“The Vatican’s new declaration ‘Fiducia supplicans’ is a major step forward in the church’s ministry to LGBTQ people and recognizes the deep desire in many Catholic same-sex couples for God’s presence in their loving relationships,” said Rev. James Martin, SJ, a Jesuit priest who is the editor at large of America magazine. “In short, yesterday, as a priest, I was forbidden to bless same-sex couples at all. Today, with some limitations, I can.”
The new declaration encourages ordained ministers to offer spontaneous blessings without ritualization, fostering a more direct connection between the faithful and God.
However, it cautions against ritualizing blessings for couples in ‘irregular’ situations, aiming to prevent any confusion with sacramental marriage ceremonies.
In essence, Pope Francis’s approval of blessings for same-sex couples represents a progressive step in the Catholic Church’s approach to LGBT+ issues but it could embolden conservative critics.
“Today, it’s the ability to project a dumbed-down, oversimplified, and stereotypically bigoted version of Catholic tradition—stripped of its intellectual complexity and spiritual richness—that gets rewarded: Catholicism as a meme,” wrote Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University.
Peter Kwasniewski said, “Nobody’s going to read a long Vatican document but everyone will see with his own eyes the one Sunday a month when the local liberal pastor invites all the couples of any kind to “come up for a blessing” after Mass!”
“Popesplainers will have to face Almighty God someday and give an answer. ’Why did you tolerate, even defend, the appearance of evil—which led countless souls astray—just because you stupidly thought it was better to ‘defend’ the Vatican with your sophistry?'” said Kwasniewski.
“The Declaration issued today by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) articulated a distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to persons who desire God’s loving grace in their lives,” said U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi. “The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.”
While the document doesn’t alter the doctrinal foundation of marriage, it underscores a broader pastoral vision, welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds to seek God’s love and mercy through simple blessings.