The Vatican has opened the door to the Catholic blessing of relationships between same-sex couples, as approved by Pope Francis. Still, there is no room for effective marriage in the Church yet.
This is one of the most concrete steps to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to the LGBTQ community by allowing priests to bless couples in same-sex relationships, the Vatican announced on Monday.
With the declaration 'Fiducia supplicans', the Vatican now allows priests to bless an "unusual" couple, meaning two people of the same sex. However, no ritual or service of any kind may take place in the process; any element that could give the impression of a marriage should be avoided.
In the text, the College of Faith redefined what constitutes a blessing. Those asking for a blessing show that they are "in need of God's saving presence" in their lives, by "expressing a request for God's help, a plea to live better," the text concluded. Whether a blessing is appropriate will have to be decided by the priests on a case-by-case basis.
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The decision is a firm change of course: some clerics had for years indicated that they were in favour of such a blessing, or were already willing to give it in practice. Therefore, the matter was previously submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which guards Catholic doctrine.
The congregation, however, still formally rejected the matter in 2021. "A blessing is only possible if it is done 'in accordance with God's intentions.' For this reason, it is not permissible to give the blessing to relationships involving sexual practices outside marriage," the Congregation said then.
The matter remains very sensitive, which is clear from the way the Vatican announced the change. Officially, the statement is about the role of blessings in general. The blessing of couples "in unusual situations" or of same-sex couples is only one part of it.
