Vatican allows blessings for same-sex couples, but excludes marriage rites: details
Kyiv • UNN
The Vatican allows priests to bless same-sex couples without implying the Church's approval of their union to avoid similarities in marriage ceremonies.
Catholic priests can now bless same-sex couples, but this does not mean that the church approves of the union. This is stated in the declaration "Fiducia supplicans," UNN reports.
There is a possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex, the form of which should not be ritually established by church authorities to avoid confusion with the blessing inherent in the Sacrament of Matrimony
Details
According to the church, marriage is "an exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children," and only in this context do sexual relations find their natural, proper and fully human meaning, the Vatican said.
However, now, when two people ask for a blessing, even if their situation is not acceptable to the church, an ordained minister can give consent, avoiding any elements that might resemble a marriage ceremony.
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