The Vatican has found itself to be in a weird place in history at the moment, as the church attempts to navigate a world where traditional values are constantly being degraded by the overarching ideologies of progressivism.
To make matters even more complicated, Pope Francis has been a relatively liberal high pontiff, often speaking on subjects, such as climate change and immigration, that the Catholic Church would often stray away from in earlier decades.
That’s why their latest statement on gay marriage came off as a bit surprising.
The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”
The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.
The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.”
The decree distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions since any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage.
But the church wishes no harm on any of God’s children.
The Vatican holds that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.” Catholic teaching holds that marriage, a lifelong union between a man and woman, is part of God’s plan and is intended for the sake of creating new life.
The news will certainly ruffle the feathers of many who believed that Pope Francis was leading the church in a new direction, and will also likely garner criticism on account of the organization’s heavily homosexual and near-constant sexual abuse scandals.
