12/18/2023 11:08 pm (current 12/18/2023 11:10 pm)
Pope opens the way for the blessing of homosexual couples ©APA/dpa
Pope Francis has opened the way for the blessing of homosexual couples in the Catholic Church under certain conditions. This emerges from a letter that the Vatican published in Rome on Monday. According to the official German translation, it talks about “the possibility of blessing undocumented couples and same-sex couples”. The bishops of Austria welcome the Holy Father's decision, according to Kathpress.
The statement, called “Fiducia supplicans,” was published by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. As head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis had already approved it. He goes on to say that under certain conditions a blessing “can be given to everyone without asking for anything.” Such blessings are “addressed to everyone, no one should be excluded.”
However, it is also expressly emphasized that such a blessing cannot be ritually determined by ecclesiastical authorities “so as not to cause confusion with the blessing inherent in the sacrament of marriage”. The statement also reiterates that sexual relations are only considered permitted in marriage between a man and a woman.
Francis had already made clear in a letter in the fall that he did not fundamentally reject blessings for homosexual couples. It was said at the time that whoever asked for a blessing trusted God to ask for God's help to be able to live better. It is therefore necessary to evaluate whether there can be forms of blessing without conveying a false idea of marriage. However, the Pope rejected official regulations on this matter by dioceses or episcopal conferences. Marriage is a union between a man and a woman.
“I welcomed today's announcement from the Faith Dicastery with joy,” said the president of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, Bishop Franz Lackner, on Monday evening. The blessing is a basic need “which, in principle, should not be denied to anyone – like bread,” said the archbishop. “Basically, you can no longer say no”, added the Archbishop of Salzburg in the interview with “ZiB2” when asked how a priest should react to the request for a blessing from a same-sex couple.
Regarding the reason why this ecclesiastical reassessment came about, the Archbishop said: “I believe that the Church recognizes that a relationship between two people of the same sex is not entirely without truth: there is love, there is loyalty, there are also shared difficulties and has lived faithfully. This must also be recognized.”
Diocesan Bishop Josef Marketz described the “Fiducia supplicans” declaration of principles as an “important step towards an open church”. The diocesan bishop of Styria, Wilhelm Krautwaschl, also welcomed the Vatican's statement on how to deal with relationships outside the classic marriage between a man and a woman.