The Church cannot get rid of the “blessings for homosexuals” theme – now it has officially explained its latest statement. Let me explain this explanation of their explanation!
In the December 18 statement on the blessing of unmarried couples, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote that the text was sufficient and “no further responses should be expected.” The fact that the mayor made an official statement 17 days later shows the explosiveness and complexity of the really simple issue: the Pope does not want blessing ceremonies that appear to be a substitute for marriage for same-sex or divorced couples (after his o Catholic understanding of first marriage still exists). At the same time, he wants to clear up a misunderstanding caused by the harsh language of the Vatican's 2021 “blessing ban”: homosexuals cannot be blessed.
The last two statements have now made it clear: homosexual Catholics have the same dignity as all other people, and Mother Church must not deny the blessing to any of her children. Likewise, two points of the Church's teaching remain unchanged: sex only has its place in the indissoluble and faithful marriage between a man and a woman; and the only covenant that the church can and should bless is this marriage between a man and a woman.
Wedding-like blessing celebrations have been going on for a long time – and are actually seen as a kind of marriage. When an actress celebrated such a blessing service in a Viennese church twelve years ago, the media wrote that she had gotten married there. As her husband was divorced, the wedding took place “without the Eucharist” or “without a marriage vow and exchange of rings”, as is customary “in new Catholic marriages”.
For many centuries, the “blessing of the Church” made the union between a man and a woman a marriage. Only the classic marriage knows such a blessing. But a short, impromptu blessing for two people, without ceremony, is something different. Not much has changed except the atmosphere.
For some, this is not enough: people in the 21st century no longer make any distinction between heterosexual and homosexual and see divorce as a fact. For some, this goes too far: there is a lack of understanding in local culture – for example in Africa – to bless same-sex couples. In both cases, the church should confirm the cultural character of the people. But isn't the essence of a revealed religion more about challenging and offering the world what is unique, even nonconformist?
The author was deputy editor-in-chief of “Presse” and is now head of communications for the Archdiocese of Vienna.
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