Gay marriage pope francis
Pope says Roman Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples
Pope Francis has allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, a significant advance for LGBT people in the Roman Catholic Church.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church said priests should be permitted to bless same-sex and "irregular" couples, under certain circumstances.
But the Vatican said blessings should not be part of regular Church rituals or related to civil unions or weddings.
It added that it continues to view marriage as between a man and a woman.
Pope Francis approved a document issued by the Vatican announcing the transform on Monday. The Vatican said it should be a sign that "God welcomes all", but the document says priests must decide on a case-by-case basis.
Introducing the text, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Church, said that the brand-new declaration remained "firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage".
But he added that in keeping with the Pope's "pastoral vision" of "broadening&
Pope Francis has endorsed same-sex couples; or he hasn’t; or he allows them to be blessed but only as separate individuals. The news out of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) following the publication of Fiducia Supplicans (a declaration “on the pastoral meaning of blessings”) has been various and confusing.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the DDF’s beleaguered Prefect, last week had to issue a press release “clarifying” the declaration’s reception and interpretation.
Fernández, like Pope Francis, claims to be clear about two things:
- The blessings discussed in Fiducia Supplicans are not a substitute for marriage — nor should they be confused as offering anything sacramental or equivalent to marriage.
- The Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality remains unchanged — that is to say, the Church regards homosexual feelings as regrettable but not sinful. Consummating an execute of same-sex love is, however, wrong because all non-potentially procreative sex and all sex outside of marriage is contrary to God’s will for humanity.
This latter position is consistent wi
What Pope Francis said about controversial issues from gay rights to immigration
Pope Francis, one of the more progressive pontiff's in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday morning at the age of 88, the Vatican confirmed.
Francis’ willingness to take a more progressive stance on issues from LGBTQ rights to same-sex marriage to immigration produce him one of the most progressive and formative popes of the adj era.
Here are memorable moments from Francis' time where he voiced his opinions on those topics.
Francis' stance on members of the LGBTQ community
In December , Francis formally signed off on allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, he said in a declaration released by the Vatican's office.
The declaration stated, "When people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection."
"A blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God. The request for
When my partner asked me to marry her in , I told her I would need to wait until the Pope agreed to same-sex marriage. It wasn’t just a punchline with a stall tactic. I was pledged to our relationship, but I was also a practicing Catholic as much as I was a practicing lesbian. I had no idea what saying ‘yes’ would mean liturgically and I wanted to be married in my church.
At the time, Benedict XVI was still Pope. Just a month after our engagement (I eventually answered ‘yes’), he used his last Christmas greeting to denounce same-sex marriage, calling it a “manipulation of nature” that will “destroy the essence of the human creature.” He used the opportunity to repeat a previous message that same-sex marriage was “an attack” on the traditional family.
By the noun we found a church to marry us in , Benedict XVI had resigned, and Francis was our new Holy Father. Then, just two months before our nuptials, Pope Francis made his high-altitude declaration, &#;If someone is gay and searches for the Lord…who am I to judge?”
That inflight compress conference brought solace and hope to me