The Vatican plans to bless “same-sex couples” and “in irregular situations,” as reported by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, in a document published this December 18. Likewise, the traditional doctrine on marriage remains unchanged, since there will be, they emphasize, no specific rite that could cause confusion with marriage.
According to the text, the Holy See opens “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and to same-sex couples, without officially validating their status nor alter in any way the perennial teaching of the Church on marriage.”
This means that this novelty is not linked to a ritual such as a wedding. Pope Francis has established that there is no special rite for this blessing so as not to distinguish it from a wedding, and has established that when it is given or received “not even the clothing, gestures or words typical of a marriage are used.”
In this way, “following the authorized teaching of the Holy Father Francis,” they point out that the Dicastery “finally wants to remember that this world needs blessing and we can give the blessing and receive the blessing. In this way, each brother and sister will be able to feel like they are always pilgrims in the Church, always suppliant, always loved and, despite everything, always blessed”.
With this update they offer “a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of the blessings, which allows us to expand and enrich the classical understanding of blessings closely linked to a liturgical perspective.” Such theological reflection “implies a true development of what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and in the official texts of the Church.”