The Pope and Blessing Sodomites
The mainstream media, hereafter called the Voice of Sauron, is agitated and enthused by the rumors, concocted, as it happens, by the Voice of Sauron alone, that Pope Francis has permitted the blessing of sodomite marriage unions.
As with most things uttered by the Voice of Sauron, this is not merely a falsehood but the diametric opposite of the truth.
This is not even a case where the Pope spoke in ambiguous language creating an opening for scandal. It is merely a lie.
The document signed by the Pope says the Church does not have the power to impart blessings on unions of persons of the same sex.
The Church however does have the power to bless things, places, or circumstances that do not contradict the law or the spirit of the Gospel.
Blessings have as their recipients people; objects of worship and devotion; sacred images; places of life, of work, and suffering; the fruits of the earth and human toil; and all created realities that refer back to the Creator, praising and blessing him by their beauty.
Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection.
Even sinners can ask for blessing and be blessed.
So, yes indeed, a priest can bless two sodomites, or any other group of sinners, without requiring a visit to the confessional, or some other official formality or ritual, just so long as the blessing is not done in any circumstances that might create the confusing appearance of blessing a sodomite marriage union.
The only novel part of this document is that clarifies that the Church will not draft hard and fast and simple rules for when blessings are allowed or forbidden, aside from those rules given since antiquity. The matter rest with the spiritual discretion of the priest.
For the edification of any who might read these words, here below, in part, is the actual text of the official Church document being discussed.
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/12/18/0901/01963.html#en
4. … It is a matter of avoiding that “something that is not marriage is being recognized as marriage.” Therefore, rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage—which is the “exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children”—and what contradicts it are inadmissible. This conviction is grounded in the perennial Catholic doctrine of marriage; it is only in this context that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning. The Church’s doctrine on this point remains firm.
5. This is also the understanding of marriage that is offered by the Gospel. For this reason, when it comes to blessings, the Church has the right and the duty to avoid any rite that might contradict this conviction or lead to confusion….
Later, we read
38. For this reason, one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation. At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing. In a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance—but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely.
39. In any case, precisely to avoid any form of confusion or scandal, when the prayer of blessing is requested by a couple in an irregular situation, even though it is expressed outside the rites prescribed by the liturgical books, this blessing should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding. The same applies when the blessing is requested by a same-sex couple.
40. Such a blessing may instead find its place in other contexts, such as a visit to a shrine, a meeting with a priest, a prayer recited in a group, or during a pilgrimage. Indeed, through these blessings that are given not through the ritual forms proper to the liturgy but as an expression of the Church’s maternal heart—similar to those that emanate from the core of popular piety—there is no intention to legitimize anything, but rather to open one’s life to God, to ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness.
41. What has been said in this Declaration regarding the blessings of same-sex couples is sufficient to guide the prudent and fatherly discernment of ordained ministers in this regard. Thus, beyond the guidance provided above, no further responses should be expected about possible ways to regulate details or practicalities regarding blessings of this type.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
