Pope Francis: Priests can bless same-sex unions

Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless couples in same-sex relationships in some circumstances, according to the Vatican.

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The approval came in a declaration released Monday by the Vatican’s doctrine office, The Associated Press reported.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez noted in the document, which was reviewed and signed by Francis, that the decision does not change “the traditional doctrine of the church about marriage.” It allows for no type of liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite, but instead permits “a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings.”

“It is precisely in this context that one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage,” he wrote.

Previously, the Vatican argued against blessing same-sex unions, though Francis suggested earlier this year that priests could bless same-sex couples, so long as the blessings were separate from the sacrament of marriage, The Washington Post reported.

“We cannot be judges who only deny, push back and exclude,” Francis wrote in a letter dated Sept. 25, according to the newspaper. “As such, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that do not convey a wrong idea of a matrimony. Because when one seeks a blessing, one is requesting help from God.”

In the declaration released Monday, Fernandez said the new guidelines are “based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis.” He added that the church “should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation.”

“At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing,” he said.

Rev. James Martin, a prominent advocate for LGBTQ Catholics, told The New York Times that the newly released declaration “opens the door to nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples, something that had been previously off-limits for bishops, priests and deacons.”

“Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions,” he said.

Francis has been trying to make the church more welcoming to LGBT people without changing moral doctrine on same-sex activity — which is considered sinful — since his election in 2013, Reuters reported.

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