A group of Belgian Catholic bishops have defied the Vatican by introducing blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in their dioceses.
The bishops of Flanders also published a liturgy for the celebration of homosexual unions.
“In doing so, they are going directly against the Vatican,” reported the Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad.
The Vatican clarified in March 2021 that the Catholic Church does not have the power to give liturgical blessings of homosexual unions.
The Flemish bishops say they created the liturgy to make the church more inclusive and welcoming.
The document, titled “Being Pastorally Close to Homosexual Persons: For a welcoming church that excludes no one,” was published on 20 September on the website of the bishops’ conference of Belgium.
It states that same-sex relationships, which are not considered sacramental marriages by the Catholic Church, can nonetheless be a source of joy and happiness for the couple.
The publication cites “The Joy of Love,” the 2016 apostolic exhortation in which Pope Francis wrote that the church needs to accompany families with LGBT members better, so that “those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives”.
The bishops of the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium also announced that each diocese will appoint a person as “concrete response and fulfilment to the desire to give explicit attention to the situation of homosexual persons, their parents and families in the conduct of policy.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued its latest declaration on same-sex blessings on March 15, 2021, in a document known as a Responsum ad dubium (“Response to a question”).
In reply to the query, “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” the CDF answered, “Negative.”
The congregation outlined its reasoning in an explanatory note and accompanying commentary.
The Vatican statement, issued with the approval of Pope Francis, sparked protests and open defiance in the German-speaking Catholic world.
German priests and pastoral workers also openly defied the Vatican and conducted blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.
The Belgian prayers were published as Catholic dioceses around the world are finalising reports about listening sessions with lay Catholics, which are part of the pope’s synodal process. Bishops in many countries said that the treatment of LGBT Catholics and their families arose in many listening sessions, including some in the United States.
“The hope for a welcoming church expressed itself clearly with the desire to accompany with authenticity LGBTQ+ persons and their families,” reads a report published yesterday by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops summarising the listening sessions held throughout the United States.
“In order to become a more welcoming Church, there is a deep need for ongoing discernment of the whole Church on how best to accompany our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters.”
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