Vatican Says It Cannot Bless Same-Sex Unions
2021-03-16
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1The Vatican issued an order Monday stating that the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions.
2The Vatican office that sets official church policy said the order was issued because God "cannot bless sin."
3It said the order was approved by Pope Francis.
4The decision came after questions were raised by a number of Catholic clergy who sought guidance on the issue.
5Local leaders in some countries had begun blessing same-sex unions in place of marriage.
6The Vatican has said in the past that it welcomes gay people and urges church leaders and members to treat them with respect.
7But the Catholic Church does not permit same-sex marriages and condemns gay sex.
8The church teaches that marriage can only be entered into between a man and woman in a lifelong union.
9The new order said that permitting the blessing of same-sex unions would be seen as an official recognition of such unions within the church.
10It stated that such blessings were not permissible even though they were "motivated by a desire" to welcome gay and help them grow in the church.
11The order said the Vatican cannot officially bless any union that involves sexual activity outside of marriage because it is not in line with church policy and God's plan.God "does not and cannot bless sin," it said.
12Last year, the Vatican had to explain comments attributed to Pope Francis that seemed to support providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions.
13His comments appeared in a documentary about his life and social issues that concern him.
14In the documentary, Francis said gay people "have the right to be in a family.
15They are children of God."
16He added: "What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered."
17But the Vatican said the pope's comments were not correctly attributed and did not signal a change in official church policy.
18In an article issued with the latest order, the Vatican said there was a "fundamental" difference between gay unions and how gay individuals should be treated in the church.
19The article noted that "the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons."
20At least two German bishops, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich -- one of the pope's top advisors -- have expressed support for some kind of church blessing for same-sex unions.
21The head of the bishops' conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said "There are no easy answers to questions like these."
22He added the German church would look at both the Vatican's moral teaching and the reality of Catholics today.
23I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The Vatican issued an order Monday stating that the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions. 2The Vatican office that sets official church policy said the order was issued because God "cannot bless sin." It said the order was approved by Pope Francis. 3The decision came after questions were raised by a number of Catholic clergy who sought guidance on the issue. Local leaders in some countries had begun blessing same-sex unions in place of marriage. 4The Vatican has said in the past that it welcomes gay people and urges church leaders and members to treat them with respect. But the Catholic Church does not permit same-sex marriages and condemns gay sex. The church teaches that marriage can only be entered into between a man and woman in a lifelong union. 5The new order said that permitting the blessing of same-sex unions would be seen as an official recognition of such unions within the church. It stated that such blessings were not permissible even though they were "motivated by a desire" to welcome gay and help them grow in the church. 6The order said the Vatican cannot officially bless any union that involves sexual activity outside of marriage because it is not in line with church policy and God's plan. God "does not and cannot bless sin," it said. 7Last year, the Vatican had to explain comments attributed to Pope Francis that seemed to support providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions. His comments appeared in a documentary about his life and social issues that concern him. 8In the documentary, Francis said gay people "have the right to be in a family. They are children of God." He added: "What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered." 9But the Vatican said the pope's comments were not correctly attributed and did not signal a change in official church policy. 10In an article issued with the latest order, the Vatican said there was a "fundamental" difference between gay unions and how gay individuals should be treated in the church. The article noted that "the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons." 11At least two German bishops, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich -- one of the pope's top advisors -- have expressed support for some kind of church blessing for same-sex unions. 12The head of the bishops' conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said "There are no easy answers to questions like these." He added the German church would look at both the Vatican's moral teaching and the reality of Catholics today. 13I'm Bryan Lynn. 14The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 15We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 16________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18bless - v. to ask God to help or protect someone or something 19sin - n. something that goes against the rules of a religion 20gay - adj. sexually attracted to a person of the same sex 21motivate - v. to give someone a reason for doing something 22attribute - v. to say what someone wrote or said something 23fundamental -adj. relating to the most important part of something 24negative - adj. not having good or positive opinions about something 25imply - v. to suggest of show something