Pope Francis on Monday approved blessings for same-sex couples, marking a shift in the Catholic church’s stance toward the LGBTQ+ community.
A document published by the Vatican’s doctrinal office — and signed by the pope — says that Roman Catholic priests will be allowed to bless couples “in irregular situations and same-sex couples.”
The document specifies that a blessing does not officially validate the couple’s status or change “the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” It also emphasizes that the blessing should not occur at the same time as a civil union ceremony and can’t be performed with any clothing or gestures associated with weddings, to avoid “any form of confusion or scandal.”
But it says this move “implies a real development from what has been said about blessings.”
“When people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection,” the document reads.
The change in stance follows a letter sent by Pope Francis to five cardinals over the summer and published in October, which hinted at the possibility of allowing blessings for same-sex couples.
Francis has moved the Catholic church toward more progressive stances on LGBTQ+ issues since becoming pope in 2013. In 2020 he backed same-sex civil unions, saying: “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family.”
