In a landmark moment, Pope Francis has said that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples.
Pope Francis will visit venues across Leyte and Manila during his visit to the Philippines.
In a document released on Monday Dec. 18, the Pope said that priests could offer blessings as long as they did not resemble marriage.
Vicar Wolfgang Rothe blesses the couple Christine Walter (l) and Almut Münster during a Catholic service with the blessing of homosexual couples as part of a nationwide campaign in the Church of St. Benedict. (Photo by Felix Hörhager/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This means that blessings cannot be done during or in connection to ceremonies that resemble a civil or same-sex union.
Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile on his way to attend the Via Crucis on Copacabana Beach during World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
There must also not be “any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding”.
Brigitte Schmidt (R), a pastoral worker blesses a same-sex couple, Nini and Juliana Weinmeister-Bisping, at the Catholic St. Johannes XXIII church on May 10, 2021 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
This is because, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, marriage is still a union between a man and a woman.
Brigitte Schmidt, a pastoral worker blesses a same-sex couple, Ralf Michael Berger and Andreas Helfrich, at the Catholic St. Johannes XXIII church in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
However, the document said that the church should not deny same-sex couples requesting blessings.
An LGBT activist with a poster on which Pope Francis is drawn with a heart in the colors of the rainbow, during the Avellino Pride 2019 on June 15, 2019 in Atripalda, Italy. (Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)
It said that the blessings are about helping people increase their trust in God and a sign that God welcomes all.
Chantal Hoeffer and Ivonne Fuchs, smile happily after Brigitte Schmidt, a pastoral worker blesses the same-sex couple at the Catholic St. Johannes XXIII church in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
This is the latest move from Pope Francis to welcome and include LGBTQ people in the Catholic church.
Brigitte Schmidt, a pastoral worker chats with Nini and Juliana Weinmeister-Bisping after she blesses the same-sex couple at the Catholic St. Johannes XXIII church in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
In 2013, he famously said he was not one to judge if an LGBTQ person was a believer, and in 2023 said that being LGBTQ is not a crime.
