Pope Francis Approves Limited Blessings for Same-Sex Couples

metroweekly.com:

declaration on Monday, Dec. 18, setting forth the criteria for which Catholic priests may bless same-sex unions — provided they are not held up as equivalent to a marriage, which is considered a holy sacrament and may only occur between individuals of the opposite sex.The eight-page declaration is co-signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the office’s doctrinal secretary, Monsignor Armando Matteo.The declaration draws distinctions between liturgical blessings and spontaneous or personal ones, allowing Catholic priests to offer those more informal blessings to same-sex couples or those in “irregular” unions.It also clarifies that the couples “should not be required to have prior moral perfection” as a precondition for obtaining the blessing, which is viewed as a prayer to God to help the recipients “mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel.”While the declaration permits individual priests to offer blessings, it also emphasizes that they cannot occur within the context of a liturgical celebration and does not allow them to “be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding.”Priests must also offer those blessings without any prepared texts or rituals while adhering to the narrow guidelines set forth by the Vatican.The declaration marks a significant shift in tone from past doctrine, under which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said, just two years ago, that God “cannot bless sin” with respect to same-sex couples.According to the National Catholic Reporter, Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, initiated a major shakeup within the Vatican when he appointed Fernández, a fellow Argentine, to lead the.