Vatican Bans Same-Sex Marriages When Pope Supports Civil Unity, How Do Catholics See Homosexuality?

Pope Francis (Twitter / @ Pontivex_es)

JAKARTA - Monday, March 15, Vatican authorities declared their stance to prohibit Roman Catholic clergymen from blessing same-sex marriages. This attitude raises questions about the consistency of the Vatican's stance, especially Pope Francis, who had expressed support for civil unity as a substitute for marriage for same-sex couples. How do Catholics actually view homosexuals?

In a statement approved by Pope Francis, the Vatican office of orthodoxy announced the ban. This decision was adopted by the Concregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), in response to a question about the church's authority to bless same-sex marriage.

"Negative," read the reply signed by Cardinal Luis Ladaria, Head of the CDF. The CDF is an old institution founded in the Middle Ages - around 1542-- to fight heresy. Ladaria does not deny the positive possibilities that arise from same-sex marriage.

However, sin is still sin. And God cannot "bless sin," Ladaria explained. The Vatican decision was issued less than a week after the European Union (EU) declared itself an LGBTQ + freedom zone.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

The protest was carried out by a number of Roman Catholic priests. They demonstrated in a campaign of defiance against the Vatican ban. One-vote pastors, they will continue to bless same-sex couples, even if it is against the orders of the church.

In some countries, parishes and priests have blessed union of same-sex couples in lieu of marriage. In fact, there are calls for bishops to institutionalize a de facto union of such pairs. This condition worries the Vatican.

"We members of the Parish Priests Initiative are deeply shocked by the new Roman decision to ban same-sex couples blessing. This is a recurrence of times we hope to resolve with Pope Francis," the Austria-based group said in a statement.

LGBT illustration (Margaux Bellott / Unsplash)

"We will (be) in solidarity, with so much, not rejecting future loving couples who ask to celebrate God's blessings they experience every day, also in services," the statement continued.

The Pastor Parish initiative led by Father Helmut Schueller has long been a thorn in the Vatican side. The group wants church rules to be changed so that priests can marry, and women can become priests.

The group will also break church rules by giving communion to divorced Protestants and Catholics and then remarrying. Founded in 2006 by nine priests, the initiative claims to have about 350 members of the church's official ranks and more than three thousand lay supporters.

How do Catholics view homosexuals?

The hope of the Catholic church being more friendly to LGBTIQ people actually began to build during Pope Francis' time. He is the first pope to express support for the existence of LGBTIQ people, even civil unions for same-sex couples.

Pope Francis' support is implied in his statement in the documentary film by Evgeny Alfineevsky entitled Fransesco. The film, which depicts the life and work of the Pope, premiered at the Rome Film Festival, Wednesday, October 21, 2020.

"Homosexuals have the right to have families," Pope Francis said in the film.

"They are children of God and have the right to a family. Nothing should be thrown away or made miserable for it."

"What we have to make is a law on civilian unity. That way they are protected by law."

Pope Francis' statement was welcomed by many activists and institutions supporting LGBTIQ. Yes, including Father Helmut Schueller and his initiative, who admitted to being disappointed.

The analyst who is also the BBC's Rome, Italy correspondent, Mark Lowen has from the very beginning put forward his views on this situation. According to him, it is difficult to expect much just by hearing Pope Francis' statement in the film.

Yes, although he did not deny that this was the strongest statement of support ever conveyed by Catholic religious leaders. Mark Lowen gave two possibilities on how to interpret Pope Francis' statement in Francis.

This could mean a fundamental change that the Pope brings and will have a profound impact on the attitude of the Vatican. However, this could also be simply the spontaneous statement of a Catholic clergyman, which remains impossible for him to ignore the conservative and traditional doctrines of the church when pressed to take more concrete action.

Pope Francis (Twitter / @ Pontivex_es)

In principle, Catholic teaching places the position of homosexuals as a human group that must be treated equally with dignity and respect. Homosexual orientation is not a sin. Yet homosexual behavior is clearly a sin.

A document released by the Vatican doctrine office in 2003 stated that the church's veneration of homosexuals "cannot necessarily lead to the approval of homosexual behavior or the legal recognition of homosexual unions."

In 2013, Francis also personally affirmed this view that homosexuals are "forgiven" as long as they are still in the form of sexual orientation. "If someone is gay, but he seeks God and has good intentions, who am I to judge them?" said the Pope in 2013.

* Read other information about LGBTIQ or read other interesting articles by Ahmad Fauzi Iyabu and Yudhistira Mahabharata.

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