Catholic priests will now bless same-sex couples for the first time after Pope Francis formally approved the practice in a declaration released Monday.
While the blessings are a sharp change in Catholic practice, the declaration emphasizes that the church “remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage.”
“It is precisely in this context that one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage,” the declaration states.
While the church remained steadfast in its stance on marriage being between heterosexual couples, the declaration makes clear that it should not take "an exhaustive moral analysis” for same-sex couples to receive blessings.
The declaration goes on to say that "a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God."
"The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live," it states.
Francis had previously expressed openness to blessing same-sex couples in an October letter to conservative Cardinals.
The Rev. James Martin, who has advocated for the church to become more welcoming for LGBTQ people, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the decision was a “major step forward” that “recognizes the deep desire in many Catholic same-sex couples for God's presence in their loving relationships.”
“Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions,” Martin wrote. He added in a subsequent post: "Be wary of the 'Nothing has changed' response to today's news. It's a significant change. In short, yesterday, as a priest, I was forbidden to bless same-sex couples at all. Today, with some limitations, I can."
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who is Catholic, thanked the Pope in a post on X "for recognizing that we are all God’s children."
"Being LGBTQ always has been a beautiful part of the magnificent creation that we call humanity," he wrote.
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson said on X that “Millions of lives will be released from judgement (sic) by this, many families reconciled, many hearts given comfort that were tormented before.”
According to Pew, there are 148 Catholics in the 118th Congress.
