The Catholic church, in its doctrine, still rejects same-sex marriage and condemns any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as “intrinsically disordered.” Yet Pope Francis, during his nearly 11-year papacy, has done excess of any previous pope to make the church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ people.
It became clear early in Francis’ papacy that he was going to articulate a gentler, more tolerant approach. The initial high-profile moment got here in 2013 — through the first broadcast news conference of his papacy — along with his memorable “Who am I to guage” comment when he was asked a few purportedly gay priest.
Signals of this approach had come earlier. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he had favored granting legal protections to same-sex couples as an alternative choice to endorsing gay marriage, which Catholic doctrine forbids. The Vatican confirmed in 2020 that this was indeed the pope’s belief.
Some recent highlights:
In January 2023, Francis assailed the laws on the books in lots of countries that criminalize homosexuality and called for his or her elimination
“Being homosexual isn’t a criminal offense,” Francis said during an interview with The Associated Press.
In 2008, under Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican had declined to sign onto a U.N. declaration calling for an end to such laws.
Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some regions support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against LGBTQ people. But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops need to acknowledge the dignity of everyone.
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Another reversal got here in late 2023, when the the Vatican made public a press release saying it’s permissible, under certain circumstances, for transgender people to be baptized as Catholics and function godparents.
The document was signed by Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
If it didn’t cause scandal or “disorientation” amongst other Catholics, a transgender person “may receive baptism under the identical conditions as other faithful,” the document said.
Similarly, the document said trans adults — even in the event that they had undergone gender-transition surgery — could function godfathers or godmothers under certain conditions.
The recent pronouncement reversed absolutely the bans on transgender people serving as godparents issued by the Vatican doctrine office in 2015. Among the beneficiaries: a community of transgender women — lots of them Latin American migrants who worked in Rome as prostitutes — who made monthly visits to Francis’ weekly general audiences and got VIP seats.
The pope’s outreach to trans people contrasts with the stance of some conservative Catholic prelates. In the United States, several dioceses have targeted trans Catholics with restrictions and refusals to acknowledge their gender identity. Yet at the identical time, a growing variety of U.S. parishes have welcomed trans people.
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The pope’s mixed record on LGBTQ+ issues was epitomized by the Vatican’s 2023 synod bringing together lots of of bishops and lay people from all over the world to confer on the long run of the church. The advance agenda specified that LGBTQ+ issues could be discussed; one in all Francis’ hand-picked delegates was the Rev. James Martin, a U.S.-based Jesuit priest who’s one of the vital outstanding advocates of greater LGBTQ+ inclusion within the church.
Yet when the ultimate summary of the three-week synod was released, there was not a single mention of LGBTQ+ people, reflecting the influence of Catholic conservatives who oppose Francis’ overtures to that community.
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On Monday, the Vatican released a document through which Francis formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, stipulating that folks in search of God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral evaluation” to receive it.
The document elaborates on a letter Francis sent to 2 conservative cardinals that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could possibly be offered under some circumstances in the event that they didn’t confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.
The recent document repeats that condition and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a person and a lady. And it stresses that blessings in query should be non-liturgical in nature and mustn’t be conferred concurrently a civil union, using set rituals and even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a marriage.
Even with these conditions, it is a marked change from 2021, when the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the church couldn’t bless the unions of two men or two women because “God cannot bless sin.”
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