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“Who am I to judge?”
Those were notable words that Pope Francis said a decade ago about gay priests. It was a hopeful signal that the Catholic Church could become more accepting of gay people and gay marriage.
And while the pope and the church have at times offered other hopeful signs on this issue, like speaking out earlier this year against laws criminalizing same-sex acts, they have maintained the narrow view that marriage can only be between a man and woman.
That did not change on Dec. 18, with a new ruling from the Vatican that now allows priests to bless same-sex couples, though with caveats, and not in the context of actual marriage ceremonies. The change has been met with varied responses among LGBTQ+ Catholics, with people alternatively describing it to NBC News as “groundbreaking” and “very performative.”
Even church leadership has been quick to highlight the limitations of the move. We asked the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which has actively opposed marriage equality in the past and framed marriage as only between a man and woman, if it had a response to the new ruling allowing same-sex couple blessings. We were told the diocese affirms a statement issued on Dec. 18 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“The Declaration issued today by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) articulated a distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to persons who desire God’s loving grace in their lives,” the conference of bishops said in that statement. “The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.”
We won’t pretend to know more about Jesus than the Catholic Church. It has some expertise on the subject. But there are a few things we do feel confident about related to the man whose birthday we just celebrated. We’d suggest that the directive to “accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,” should apply to accepting people regardless of sexual orientation.
Faith can be a beautiful thing. But church dogma and practice can sometimes obscure the eternal truths that they are supposed to reflect. Jesus’ message was one of love and acceptance, and despite our lack of theological training, we would expect this message to be fully reflected in church teachings and rulings. Shouldn’t loving our neighbors mean loving all our neighbors, and respecting and recognizing their love, even if they are different from us and love differently than us?
We hope the recent ruling to at least allow these blessings will be part of a continual push toward more inclusion from the Catholic Church. Greg Krajewski, a gay Catholic man from Chicago, seems to think it can be a meaningful shift.
“This document is something that the church is saying out loud that says: We’re affirming you two, we’re OK if you’re here, and we’re going to bless your presence and the goodness that comes out of your relationship,” Krajewski told NBC News. “That’s the first time that the church has come out that I can think of, and said very specifically, something is happening here that is good. That’s a big change.”
Antonella Allaria lives in New York with her wife and son. She told the Associated Press that this is a positive step for her family and the church.
“I’m gay and it’s OK to be a person and to be gay. Where before yesterday, in the Catholic Church, it was not that OK,” Allaria said. “I feel things are getting normalized. And it’s about time.”
About time, indeed. There of course is more work to be done, in the church and in society in general, to make absolutely clear that it is OK to be gay. Hopefully, this ruling from Pope Francis will help in that ongoing work.