In the summer of 2013, Pope Francis stunned conservative religious leaders by saying “"If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?"
Hearts were lifted all over the world with the thought that Pope Francis was making an effort to heal timeless wounds of rejection, opening the door to full acceptance of LGTBQAI+ people in the Roman Catholic Church.
Hope rose even higher in November 2020 when raw footage of an unaired 2019 interview included Pope Francis saying this:
“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said. “You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”
Various spokesmen and other Vatican insiders said the Pope was misinterpreted and insisted those words didn’t mean what they obviously mean. Despite that, progressive people of faith still clung to the possibility that Pope Francis might be considering a move towards a more inclusive view of marriage. Many even dared to hope he would allow blessings of same-sex couples who were legally married in civil ceremonies. That would be a big step in the right direction, even if Roman Catholic churches delayed on allowing full participation in the sacrament of marriage by conducting the same service of Holy Matrimony for all couples.
All this progressive daydreaming came to a screeching halt last Monday when an official Vatican pronouncement decreed that Roman Catholic priests are (still) not allowed to pronounce the blessing of their church over the marriage of a same-sex couple, adding that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”
Disappointment was immediate and deep, as expressed by the title of this opinion piece in the Chicago Sun Times: Pope Francis gave every ‘child of God’ hope, and now he has let them down.
Instead of taking the expected step in a progressive direction, the Vatican decree, approved by Pope Francis, doubled down on the conservative interpretation that scripture says gay sex is sinful. The document directly quoted a public statement made by Pope Francis in November of 2020, where he said God “does not and cannot bless sin.”
Adding insult to injury, the document ties itself in knots claiming that blessing an individual gay person is OK, but it’s not OK to blessing a same-sex relationship. The decree even acknowledges “the presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated” but still concludes they are “a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan.”
The more I thought about it, the more my blood started boiling.
After reading through some of the arguments offered by other readers in the comment section, I added a comment of my own, which I am sharing here today.
Originally posted on the Washington Post website In response to the article: Pope Francis says priests cannot bless same-sex unions, dashing hopes of gay Catholics:
Now wait a minute…
It's OK to bless homes, schools, hospitals, books, prayer beads, farmland, lobster boats, silver chalices, golden plates, linen handkerchiefs, fragrance infused oil, pitchers of water, candles, flowers, drawings and paintings, blankets and shawls, jewelry, musical instruments and countless other inanimate objects because we want to indicate they will be used to reveal God's presence in the world.
And it's OK to bless hands, feet, ears, bellies, throats and the speaking/singing sounds they make, and various other parts of the human body, as a sign of how growth and life and healing power is manifested in them and through them.
And it's OK to bless horses, dogs, cats, birds, fish, donkeys, cows, pigs, and every other type of companion animal for the comfort they bring to millions of people, some of whom have no other source of company and friendship, or a sense of being needed in the world, except for what those living creatures provide.
And it's OK to bless the plants and animals we kill and eat because that nourishment is essential to maintaining life.
And it's OK to bless business meetings, sessions of Congress, airline travel, political conferences, music performances, and any place where two or more are gathered.
But it's NOT okay to bless the relationship of people who have been together for years or decades, or are willing to swear a vow to do so, and in the process build a life together, bear and/or rear children together, make a home together, run businesses together, buy property together, serve their community together, strengthen and sustain one another in hard times, delight in one another in good times, cutting sorrows in half and doubling their joy, and be a small part of decreasing the amount of hate in the world and increasing the amount of love, thereby manifesting in their day to day moments of togetherness the life-giving reality of the Holiness who is the source of all Love.
Just want to be sure I've got this straight.
No pun intended.
we already started a revolution!
Link to other stories in the True Blue Report series