The document on blessings for gay couples is turning into a gigantic mess. Chaos seems to reign supreme. While the Pope continues to repeat ad nauseam that blessings should only be given to the individual homosexual and not to the relationship that remains forbidden by the Church, the most well-known American Jesuit, Father James Martin, a pillar of the LGBT+ movement worldwide, continues to preach on social media - where he is followed by a deluge of followers - that the value of blessings cannot exclude same-sex couples. Naturally, he is not the only one.
Pope, even the Belarusian episcopate disobeys: 'We will not bless gay couples'
Father Martins has published a very touching personal story to explain how important it is. Meanwhile, in Africa, the continent's bishops are increasingly united after being exempted by the pontiff from applying blessings because, as Francis explained in an interview, their culture struggles to understand ('homosexuality is something ugly and therefore they do not tolerate it'). Words that have raised some perplexity because they are considered politically incorrect, even fueling the suspicion of having a racist undertone. In any case, the disorientation among the episcopates (including European ones) remains palpable and perhaps in the end everyone will do more or less what they feel like doing.
Pope Francis reassures the Church again: the blessing is not for couples but for the individual gay
MEMORIES
Father Martin recounted on social media an episode that personally touched him. A former high school classmate he hadn't seen in a long time contacted him to ask for a blessing for his relationship. He had a husband married for over twenty years. 'Gus has always been one of the best people I have ever known. I know his family well, I used to get my hair cut by his dad, in the barber shop... That's how I met Gus and James. This is one of the situations contemplated in the new Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans'. Father Martin continued explaining the context in which the blessing took place: 'Of course it didn't look like a wedding at all, we were sitting outside at a kind of bar. I recited the prayer of Aaron from the Book of Numbers in front of them: may the Lord keep you and bless you.. then I took their hands on the table. I found it all very touching'. Father James emphasizes that often in the discussions that are read on the Vatican document of the discourse, it is lost sight of that 'these are two people who love each other and seek God'. A way 'to say yes to God's desire to be close to God's friends and also to my friend of more than 50 years'.
This article is automatically translated