Pope Francis on Saturday warned the faithful against splitting into groups amid opposition to some Vatican policies from more conservative factions of the Catholic Church.
Last month, Francis allowed priests to bless extramarital couples, including same-sex couples, as long as the blessing is pastoral in nature, but some bishops immediately refused such blessings, deeming it a dangerous progressivism on Francis’ part. As a consequence, the Vatican issued a statement earlier this week that blessings are not heresy and there is no doctrinal basis for abandoning the practice.
Pope Francis called for a rejection of “ecclesiastical ideologies” in his homily in St Peter’s Basilica during Mass on Epiphany Day, and warned against “basking in elegant religious theory” instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.
He stressed that the church needed to ensure that “our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance.”
The pontiff turned 87 last month and held up well during the Epiphany ceremony, which included the singing of Christmas carols, despite some health problems. Because of chronic knee problems, and he uses a wheelchair to cover long distances, so at the end of the 90-minute service, a wheeled assistant carried Francis down the basilica’s central aisle.
He has devoted much of his nearly 11-year papacy to highlighting marginalised people and making LGBTQ+ Catholics feel welcome.
