Contrary to conservative African bishops’ claims that it goes against church teaching, Pope Francis has authorized a regulation enabling the blessing of same-sex couples.
To help them comprehend how the regulation aligns with church principles, the Vatican has asked bishops against it to spend a long time contemplating pastorally. Bishops should consider local customs, but they have no business prohibiting priests from executing the ritual.
In the face of criticism from conservative bishops who branded the judgment heretical, the Vatican stood by it. While acknowledging the need for pastoral thought, the Holy See’s institution charged with safeguarding doctrinal truth, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, emphasized that blessing same-sex spouses is not heresy. Nonetheless, the Vatican has made it clear that it cannot doctrinally reject or reject the pope’s proclamation about blessings as heretical.
This is an unprecedented step in Catholic history.
The bishops conference of Malawi firmly rejected the idea of “blessings of any sort” for “same-sex unions of any kind.” In response to the rule’s December issuance, the Zambian bishops conference said same-sex couple blessings will not be implemented in their country.
The rule may take more time to apply based on “local situations,” something the Vatican has also acknowledged. The proclamation may be instantly put into effect in some regions, including the United States or Western Europe, where same-sex couples have already been fêted. In other cases, delaying the rule’s introduction will be required to give everyone enough time to read and understand it.
The blessings, according to the Vatican, are not an endorsement of what it regards as immoral behavior, and they also cannot be performed in a conspicuous area of a house of worship, like an altar.
Zambia and Malawi’s bishops’ conferences have declared that same-sex couples would not get any blessings from their respective nations.
