The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley last week praised Pope Francis’s recent directive allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, though the cardinal qualified the praise as not an endorsement of marriage equality.
Reports the Boston Globe:
“We thank the Holy Father for his love and care of all the people in the flock,” O’Malley said in a statement. “We caution and make clear that the Holy Father has not endorsed gay marriage, but has recognized all Catholics, including those whose unions are not recognized by the Church, as equally in need of God’s grace and love.”
Francis’ directive, issued Monday by the Vatican’s doctrinal office, gives priests greater flexibility to bless Catholics in same-sex unions — a practice that was already occurring behind closed doors in many parishes but had not been officially sanctioned until now, said Mathew Schmalz, a religious studies professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.
“Pope Francis indicates that he is recognizing ‘non-ritualized blessings’ that are spontaneous and for those who ask for them,” O’Malley said Tuesday. “Priests imparting these blessings need to be careful that it should not become a liturgical or semi-liturgical act, similar to a sacrament.”
O’Malley said the declaration “stresses that Catholics should ‘neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation,’ but at the same time, ‘not prevent or prohibit’ the Church from responding to people seeking God’s help through ‘a simple blessing.’”
While the shift empowers priests to bless gay couples outside of Mass, it stresses that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman, and that clergy who impart blessings on people in same-sex relationships should avoid rites and prayers reserved for Catholic weddings.
“It is precisely in this context that one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage,” wrote the doctrinal office’s prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who introduced the new rule.
The declaration broadens the definition of “blessing” in pastoral contexts, stating that anyone in need of God’s mercy and love “should not be required to have prior moral perfection” to receive a non-ritualistic blessing.
“The document, therefore, offers a type of blessing that can be conferred on anyone to invoke God’s help and mercy in their lives,” O’Malley said. “It is the Church reaching out a hand of affection to all Catholics in the hope that these simple gestures provide an effective means of increasing trust in God on the part of the people who seek to be guided by a greater understanding of God’s plan for love and truth.”
Read the complete Boston Globe story here.
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