Conservative cardinals had challenged the pope to confirm teachings on LGBTQ+ issues
Pope Francis has suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions, responding to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality ahead of a big meeting where LGBTQ+ Catholics are on the agenda.
The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on 11 July after receiving a list of five questions, or dubia, from them a day earlier. In it, Francis suggests that such blessings could be studied if they did not confuse the blessing with sacramental marriage.
New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics, said the letter “significantly advances” efforts to make LGBTQ+ Catholics welcomed in the church and represented “one big straw towards breaking the camel’s back” in their marginalisation.
The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. As a result, it has long opposed gay marriage. But Francis has voiced support for civil laws extending legal benefits to same-sex spouses, and Catholic priests in parts of Europe have been blessing same-sex unions without Vatican censure.
Francis’ response to the cardinals, however, marks a reversal from the Vatican’s current official position. In an explanatory note in 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that the church could not bless gay unions because “God cannot bless sin”.
From some other articles I’ve seen recently, it’s possible this could cause a split in the church. And if it does… good. Maybe that needs to happen for the Vatican to evolve into the modern era.
The United Methodist church recently split over LGBTQ issues. The main branch of the church will remain progressive, but individual congregations are deciding whether to leave or stay. It is being handled well, but there are still a lot of hard feelings on both sides.
A few years ago a group pulled a surprise vote and pushed through some very conservative policies. The majority did not support them, but the process of walking them back is what caused the split.
The Vatican seems to be trying to find a middle ground on these issues. I understand why, but I wish they would just do the right thing (or, in this case, the left thing) and adopt a progressive position. It seems likely that a schism is going to happen anyway.