Conservative cardinals had challenged the pope to confirm teachings on LGBTQ+ issues
Pope Francis has suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions, responding to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality ahead of a big meeting where LGBTQ+ Catholics are on the agenda.
The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on 11 July after receiving a list of five questions, or dubia, from them a day earlier. In it, Francis suggests that such blessings could be studied if they did not confuse the blessing with sacramental marriage.
New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics, said the letter “significantly advances” efforts to make LGBTQ+ Catholics welcomed in the church and represented “one big straw towards breaking the camel’s back” in their marginalisation.
The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. As a result, it has long opposed gay marriage. But Francis has voiced support for civil laws extending legal benefits to same-sex spouses, and Catholic priests in parts of Europe have been blessing same-sex unions without Vatican censure.
Francis’ response to the cardinals, however, marks a reversal from the Vatican’s current official position. In an explanatory note in 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that the church could not bless gay unions because “God cannot bless sin”.
The Pope is the leader of the church. Does he not have the power to simply change the church’s stance regarding homosexuality?
It feels like he’s paying lip service to the LGBTQ+ community, but not putting any real energy into changing anything.
Not really. He’s the “first among equals” as the bishop of Rome. While this translates into a lot of power, he can’t actually just make pronouncements.
Doctrine and catechism take decades to change and catch up, and any pope is largely along for that ride. This pope is using his social influence as much as possible to increase acceptance, which is why I appreciate him.
Much more than this and he will likely be assassinated. It’s not super uncommon historically, and often because a pope did things a strong faction within the cardinals/bishops didn’t like.
If you browse some of the catholic subreddits (not sure if they’ve made their way to Lemmy yet) you’ll see that many conservative catholics question the legitimacy of the current Pope.