LGBTQ Catholics were dismayed with Pope Francis’ response. On Monday, the Vatican finally declared that the Catholic Church wouldn’t bless gay-sex unions since “God can not bless sin.” The Vatican’s Office of Orthodoxy released a comprehensive response to whether Catholic clergy have the permission to bless gay marriages. The response, found in a two-page clarification endorsed by Pope Francis and issued in seven dialects, was “negative.” 

The statement differentiated welcoming LGBTQ Catholics in the church, which is promoted from blessing gay people and their unions, which it did not. It contended that such unions are not in God’s plan and that any priestly acknowledgment of them could be mistaken for marriage. The letter immediately satisfied conservatives, crushed advocates for LGBTQ Catholics, and threw a wrench in the German church debate, which has been at the forefront of opening discussions on hot-button issues like the church’s teaching homosexuality.

Francis De Bernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater acceptance of gays in the church, predicted some Catholic clergy would ignore the Vatican position.

“Some Catholic people recognize the holiness of the love between committed same-sex couples and recognize this love as divinely inspired and divinely supported and thus meet the standard to be blessed,” he said in a statement. The Vatican says that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.”

LGBTQ Catholics in USA React

According to the Catholic doctrine, marriage is a perpetual union between a male and a female. It is part of God’s plan and is meant to bring about a new life. The Vatican’s announcement that same-sex unions are a sin that the Roman Catholic Church cannot condone was no shock to LGBTQ Catholics in the United States, but it still stings. According to Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, her institution’s members represent same-sex spouses who have been in such relationships for years, despite the prejudice and family hostility.

“The fact that our church is at its highest levels and can not recognize the grace in that nor extend any blessing to these couples is just tragic,” she said.

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