Vatican cardinals defend gay union blessing ban amid dissent

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By NICOLE WINFIELD

ROME (AP) — Three cardinals close to Pope Francis defended a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions as the Vatican faced outright dissent from some Catholic clergy and questions about the pontiff’s approval of the document.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican’s laity office, concurred Thursday with the pronouncement that a “blessing” is a sacramental action related to the sacrament of marriage, which the Catholic Church teaches can only be celebrated between a man and woman.

Farrell said civil unions are not “marriages” as the Catholic Church understands the term, but he stressed: “I do want to insist that nobody, nobody must ever be excluded from the pastoral care and love and concern of the church.”

He was speaking at a news conference launching a yearlong celebration of Francis’ view of family life, articulated in a 2016 document titled “The Joy of Love.”



FILE - In this May 21, 2015 file photo, Mauro Cioffari, left, puts a wedding ring on his partner Davide Conti's finger as their civil union is being registered by a municipality officer during a ceremony in Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill. The Vatican has decreed, Monday, March 15, 2021, that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-marriage-pope-francis-civil-unions-cc5f22a1643363d1a574555eed36f3e5

[BobTheSubgenius]

1. F the lot of them!

They once taught that the Universe revolves around the Earth. Teachings can change with new data, or new understanding of old data.

Mother Church won't bless same-sex marriage, but at least some of their number will bless assault rifles? Madness.

Let's not even get into the subject of selling out Europe's Jews to keep their little square mile sacrosanct. I'm no expert on moral relativism, but I know which one I think is more corrosive to human values.