True: The Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions.

By: Shivika Sharma
April 7 2021

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True: The Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions.

Fact-Check

The Verdict True

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made it clear that “it is not licit to impart a blessing” on a union between persons of the same sex.

Claim ID fffc321c
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made it clear that “it is not licit to impart a blessing” on a union between persons of the same sex. On 15th March, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) stated that it is unacceptable to bless unions between people of same-sex and that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.” In the Catholic Church, a blessing is a rite consisting of a ceremony and prayers performed in the name and with the authority of the Church by a duly qualified minister or priest. The CDF clarified that the dubium does not preclude blessings given to individual persons with “homosexual inclinations”; rather, it declares illicit “any form of blessing that tends to acknowledge their unions as such.” The CDF notes that marriage between man and woman is a sacrament and justified that the declaration of the unlawfulness of blessings of unions between persons of the same sex is not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite. While noting the presence of “positive elements” in such unions, the CDF emphasized that that cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing since the "positive elements exist outside of the Creator’s plan." In October 2020, Pope Francis said in a documentary directed by Evgeny Afineevsky that he thought same-sex couples should be allowed to have "civil unions" and expressed the need to create a "civil union law" where they are legally covered. However, this latest dubium from the Catholic Church makes it amply clear that it is unlikely to change its stance on considering unions between homosexuals as sinful.

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