The Vatican has slapped down a Kentucky Catholic Church after a bishop gave a ‘private blessing’ to a lesbian couple.
Wearing a long rainbow-colored scarf, the Very Reverend Richard Watson blessed the couple at Historic Saint Paul Catholic Church in Lexington on December 31.
The church shared an image of the ritual via Facebook on New Year’s Day, with the caption: ‘History was made Sunday at Historic Saint Paul Catholic Church.
‘This same-sex couple, civilly married for 22 years, asked for a blessing which Fr Richard freely offered according to the guidelines in Fiducia Supplicans.’
But the Vatican disagreed with this interpretation of the 2023 doctrine, issuing a press release to counter it.
Wearing a long rainbow-colored scarf, the Very Reverend Richard Watson blessed the couple at Historic Saint Paul Catholic Church in Lexington on December 31
The church shared an image of the ritual via Facebook on New Year’s Day, with the caption: ‘History was made Sunday at Historic Saint Paul Catholic Church’
”Fiducia supplicans” does not change the doctrine on marriage,’ the Vatican said, clarifying that it allows same-sex people to be blessed, but not their marital unions.
A flood of parishioners and online observers also condemned the blessing – with the church’s Facebook post being hit with a barrage of angry reacts.
Michael J Matt, the editor of Catholic newspaper The Remnant, took to X to slam the ceremony.
‘This is not the private blessing for individuals that some would argue is the intended target of the new Vatican document,’ he said.
‘This is a “married” lesbian couple getting a public blessing in church.
‘But these are the optics they must have known would be populating around the internet as soon as the ink was dry on the papal signature.
‘Out and Proud in the sanctuary. The priest even busted out his rainbow stole for the occasion. This looks like approval, doesn’t it? And that’s the whole point.’
In December, Pope Francis formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, while reaffirming that marriage is between a man and a woman.
The new document explained a radical change in Vatican policy, insisting worshippers seeking God’s love and mercy should not be subject to ‘an exhaustive moral analysis’ to receive it.
The text elaborated on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals published two months prior.
In December, Pope Francis formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, while reaffirming that marriage is between a man and a woman
In that preliminary response, the Pope suggested such blessings could be offered under certain circumstances if they did not confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.
The new document repeats that rationale and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman.
And it stresses that blessings should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union or even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.
But it says requests for such blessings should not be denied as a rule of thumb.
It offers an extensive definition of the term ‘blessing’ in Scripture.’
‘Ultimately, a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God,’ the document said.
‘The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live.’
It added: ‘It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered.’
The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. As a result, it has long opposed same-sex marriage.
And in 2021, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the church couldn’t bless the unions of two men or two women because ‘God cannot bless sin’.
That document created an outcry, and it appeared even Pope Francis was blindsided by it even though he had technically approved its publication.
Soon after it was published, he removed the official responsible for it and set about laying the groundwork for a reversal.
In that preliminary response, the Pope suggested such blessings could be offered under certain circumstances
In the new document, the Vatican said the Church must shy away from ‘doctrinal or disciplinary schemes, especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyses and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying’.
It stressed that people in ‘irregular’ unions – gay or straight – are in a state of sin. But it said that shouldn’t deprive them of God’s love or mercy.
‘Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it,’ the document said.
The Rev. James Martin, who advocates for greater welcome for LGBTQ+ Catholics, praised the new document as a ‘huge step forward’ and a ‘dramatic shift’ from the Vatican’s 2021 policy.
The new document ‘recognizes the deep desire in many Catholic same-sex couples for God’s presence and help in their committed relationships,’ he said in an email.
‘Along with many Catholic priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex marriages.’
Traditionalists, however, were outraged. Luigi Casalini of Messa in Latino (Latin Mass) blog wrote that the document appeared to be a form of heresy.
‘The Church is crumbling,’ he wrote.