One shock after another. Barely two days after the unprecedented conviction of Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five and a half years in prison for fraud in one of the biggest financial scandals in the history of the Vatican, the Catholic Church is undergoing a new upheaval, provoked by a decision of Pope Francis.
Monday, December 18, the dicastery for the doctrine of the faith, the body of the Roman curia responsible for ensuring ideological rigor, published a “doctrinal declaration” authorizing blessing (action consisting of invoking divine benevolence on one or more people) of homosexual couples. A long-standing request from LGBTQ Catholic associations and faithful, but which raises the hackles of a conservative fringe of the Church.
The text signed by the head of the institution heir to the inquisition, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, and by Francis himself, states: “It is possible to bless couples in an irregular situation [non mariés religieusement] and same-sex couples, in a form which must not be ritually fixed by ecclesial authorities, so as not to create confusion with the blessing specific to the sacrament of marriage. » Vatican News, the website of the Holy See, highlighted on Monday the “great doctrinal value” of this document, the first of this type published in twenty-three years.
No change of doctrine
Thus authorized, the blessing must take place outside liturgical moments, namely mass, and without a specific framework. Because there can be no question for the Church of establishing any equivalence between this blessing of “irregular” couples and the institution of marriage, defined by it as the indissoluble union of a man and a woman dedicated to procreate. This blessing does not change anything “the traditional doctrine of the Church concerning marriage”.
To clearly mark the difference, the text specifies that the blessing “will never be performed at the same time as the civil rites of union, nor even in connection with them”. “ [Les] clothes, [les] gestures or [les] words specific to marriage » in will also be banned. They may take place in contexts other than mass, such as “a visit to a sanctuary, a meeting with a priest, a prayer recited in a group or during a pilgrimage”.
The idea, the text continues, is to no longer “prevent or prohibit the proximity of the Church to any situation where one seeks God’s help”. Priests who can bless couples who wish to do so are therefore called to “ask for peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue and mutual aid for them”.
You have 65% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.