ROME — With the pope’s consent, the Vatican said on Monday that priests could not bless same-sex unions, calling any such blessing “not licit.”
The ruling said that the church should be welcoming toward gay people, “with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” but not their unions. Catholic teaching holds that marriage between a man and woman is part of God’s plan, and since gay unions are not intended to be part of that plan, they cannot be blessed by the church.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, issued the judgment in response to questions raised by some pastors and parishes that sought to be more welcoming and inclusive of gay couples.
The decision did not imply a judgment on people involved, nor a form of “unjust discrimination,” the prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria, said in an explanatory note. Cardinal Ladaria said that Pope Francis, who has directed his bishops to be more welcoming to gay people even as he has opposed gay marriage in the church — had given “his assent to the publication.”
The issue had emerged more forcefully in recent years after the pope asked bishops to develop projects and pastoral proposals “so that those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives.”
Blessings of same-sex unions had been advanced as one sign of inclusiveness, and the Vatican said in its note that such projects were often “motivated by a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons,” and help them to grow in faith.
Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, who has been an advocate for gay Catholics for four decades, said Monday that the Vatican’s response was “not surprising, but still disappointing.”
Noting that “priests in parishes” were already celebrating these blessings, Mr. DeBernardo said that Catholics would “continue to find creative ways to bless the couples they love and support,” and that “Catholic laity will step in and perform their own rituals, gestures, and words of support.”
