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Pope Francis during the Angelus prayer in the Vatican (archive image)
Photo: Gregorio Borgia / dpa
The Catholic Church will not bless homosexual couples in the future either.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made this clear in the Vatican on Monday in a so-called Responsum ad dubium (answer to a doubt).
The question to the congregation was about whether Catholic clergymen can also bless same-sex relationships.
The church authorities clearly rejected this.
Blessings in human relationships are therefore only possible if they are used to serve God's purposes.
"For this reason, it is not allowed to give a blessing to relationships or even stable partnerships that include a sexual practice outside of marriage (...), as is the case with connections between people of the same sex," it says in the Answer.
Pope Francis consented to the publication of the letter.
The background is therefore that in some church areas »projects and proposals« are spreading to bless connections between people of the same sex.
The two-page letter states, among other things, that God cannot bless "sin".
Rather, God bless "sinful people so that they will recognize that they are part of His plan of love and allow change through him."
Any blessing of homosexual relationships is prohibited
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith indicated that its declaration referred to "the truth of the liturgical rite" - the blessings were part of the sacramentals.
Any form of blessing that recognizes a homosexual partnership is inadmissible.
Nevertheless, the Christian community is called upon to treat people with homosexual tendencies with respect and tact.
In this country, among other things, the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) calls for the blessing of love relationships between homosexuals.
Such blessings are already widespread in the Protestant Church, and in many places there are also church weddings for homosexuals.
Those who renounce homosexual sex are blessed
In the past, the Pope had spoken out in favor of registered same-sex partnerships, but against so-called gay marriage.
The Vatican now emphasizes that the prohibition of blessings is not unjust discrimination, but that homosexual individuals could be blessed - if they "express the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God, as presented in the Church's teaching".
In plain language: if you don't live out your sexual orientation.
Discuss successful relationships
The chairman of the Bishops' Conference, Georg Bätzing, announced that the question was difficult to answer - also with regard to recent results in the human sciences and the living conditions of people today.
The German reform movement of the »Synodal Way« endeavors to discuss the topic of successful relationships in a comprehensive way.
"The viewpoints put forward by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith today must and will of course find their way into these discussions."
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bbr / fek / ala / dpa / Reuters / AP