The Vatican said on Monday that Pope Francis had allowed priests to bless same-sex couples.
It was the strongest move yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to LGBT Catholics and more reflective of his vision of a more pastoral and less rigid church.
The Vatican has long said it cannot bless same-sex couples because it undermines church doctrine that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
However, the new rule says that blessing a same-sex couple is not the same as the sacrament of marriage, a formal ceremonial rite. The rule also emphasises that it does not bless relationships and that to avoid confusion, blessings should not be given during or in connection with a civil or same-sex union ceremony, nor with “any dress, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding”.
Vatican officials say that blessings are best conveyed during a meeting with a priest, a visit to a shrine, during a pilgrimage or as a prayer said in a group.
The new rule was published in a declaration, a rare and important Vatican document prepared by the church’s doctrinal department and presented by its head, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández. He said the declaration does not alter “the Church’s traditional teaching on marriage” because it does not allow for any liturgical rites that could be confused with the sacrament of marriage. Cardinal Fernández wrote:
“It is precisely in this context that one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the church’s perennial teaching on marriage.”
In his preface to the declaration, which was signed and approved by Pope Francis, Cardinal Fernández recognised that the expansion of the circle of persons who can receive blessings was a “real development” and an “innovative contribution to the pastoral significance of blessings”. He said the decision was “based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis.”
