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ROME (AP) — The Vatican declared Monday that the Catholic Church won’t 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 to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.”

The note distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions. It argued that such unions are not part of God’s plan and that any sacramental recognition of them could be confused with marriage.

The note immediately pleased conservatives, disheartened advocates for LGBT Catholics and threw a wrench in the debate within the German church, which has been at the forefront of opening discussion on hot-button issues such the church’s teaching on homosexuality.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater acceptance of gays in the church, predicted the Vatican position would be ignored, including by some Catholic clergy.

“Catholic people recognize the holiness of the love between committed same-sex couples and recognize this love as divinely inspired and divinely supported and thus meets the standard to be blessed,” he said in a statement.

The Vatican holds that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.” Catholic teaching says that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and woman, is part of God’s plan and is intended for the sake of creating new life.

Since gay unions aren’t intended to be part of that plan, they can’t be blessed by the church, the document said.

“The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan,” the response said.

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,” it said.

Quote (Thor123422 @ 15 Mar 2021 20:48)

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Quote (IceMage @ Mar 15 2021 04:10pm)

I understand non-believers use this as an argument against God caring about us.

But really, isn't it the opposite? God knows what's best for human beings, so He cares when we violate those principles. He thinks about sexuality differently than us humans who might simply use it for pleasure. Because that's what we do with everything... we turn desires that should be ordered into disorders, whether it be sex, food, or whatever else.

So yes, the being that created everything cares about us when we fall into disorder. He's big enough for that.

Quote (Thor123422 @ Mar 15 2021 05:13pm)

Except there's no identifiable disorder with homosexuality. In fact homosexual parents are better than the average heterosexual parents. This isn't about knowing what's best for us, it's about a power trip where he gets to tell us what to do for the sake of it.

Your homophobia is noted, but I'm just going to point of the stupidity of thinking homosexuality is some kind of disorder in 2021 lol

Quote (IceMage @ Mar 15 2021 04:21pm)

Well, your silly image was about masturbation, and anyone who has looked at the issue can understand how it negatively affects those who partake in it. Sure, almost everybody does it at some time or other, but there's a disordered nature about it. There's plenty of websites devoted to describing how it hurts people(mostly men).

I think anyone who believes homosexual acts are immoral is subject to claims of homophobia, and that's fine. I believe in Christian sexual ethics, so I think that homosexual relations are immoral. They are also disordered. But I'm not arguing from a naturalistic/materialist perspective, so not sure that we could debate the point.

Quote (duffman316 @ Mar 15 2021 04:28pm)

Honestly though, do we want gays getting married without facing any penalties? Given what we know about the gender gap id propose raising taxes on gay couples and reducing them on lesbians.