Seth Udinski, FISM News
In some encouraging news from the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican announced Monday that priests cannot bless homosexual marriages. The church council ruled that homosexuals should be treated with dignity and respect, but that a homosexual marriage is illegitimate. The Vatican released a statement on Monday saying,
God does not and cannot bless sin: He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him.
This comes as a surprise under the reign of Pope Francis I, who many historians believe is the most progressive pope in the history of the Catholic Church. Francis approved the ruling by the Vatican council.
The Church’s fidelity to biblical marriage has upset many progressives who feel the ruling is overly judgmental. Marianne Duddy-Burke, who serves as executive director of the progressive organization DignityUSA, said Rome’s decision will “exacerbate the pain and anger of LGBTQ Catholics and our families.” Even within the Church, many priests and bishops are angered. One faction of Catholic clergy in Austria will disobey the Vatican’s ruling. They said in response that they “are deeply appalled by the new Roman decree that seeks to prohibit the blessing of same-sex loving couples. This is a relapse into times that we had hoped to have overcome with Pope Francis.”
Thus far, the Church has not acquiesced to the cultural complaints. This is a promising ruling from the Vatican. Rome has erred theologically and morally throughout the centuries, and even recently it’s current pope has appeared lukewarm on the issue of homosexuality. Despite all of this, the Roman Catholic Church has remained committed to the biblical doctrine of marriage between one man and one woman, even as several Protestant denominations have abandoned it. Hopefully, the Church will continue to hold fast to this decision.