Pope Francis; head of the Catholic Church, bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State has openly called on the church to consider same-sex marriage. Pope Francis made this call while responding to a group of cardinals who asked him for clarity on the issue of blessing same-sex marriage. He is of the view that the church cannot be judges who will deny same-sex marriages.
He stated however that, the Church still considers same-sex relationships as “objectively sinful” and would not recognize same-sex marriage. This request was part of a number of requests sent to the Pope ahead of a weeks-long global gathering to discuss the future of the Church.
It must be noted that, in the Catholic Church, a blessing is a prayer or plea, usually delivered by a minister, asking God to look favourably on the person or people being blessed.
Bishops in a number of countries, including Belgium and Germany, have begun to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, but the position of Church authorities remained unclear.
The church has not been able to take a strong position on the issue. There is division of opinions on the issue as it could be recalled that, in 2021, the same pope approved a decree from the Vatican's doctrinal office forbidding priests from blessing same-sex unions. This indicates that such partnerships are sinful and as such could not be blessed. Sometime this year, Pope Francis talked of homosexuality as not being a crime but still remains a sin.
In referring to the blessings now, the Pope has not expressly talked of what would be blessed: be it the unions or the individual or group wanting to be blessed. He talked more generally of those asking for blessing as expressing a request for help from God to be able to live better, something he said should not be denied them.
The Pope said the Church understood marriage to be an "exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman" and should avoid "any type of rite or sacramental that might contradict this conviction" the BBC reported this week.
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