The Pope emphasizes that the Church does not approve of the formal blessing of homosexual couples

On board the papal plane.- Pope Leo XIV reiterated that the Church does not agree with the formal blessing of homosexual couples or those in irregular situations, but stressed that all people can receive a blessing, when answering journalists on the return flight from his tour of Africa.

The media present on board the flight from Equatorial Guinea to Rome, including EFE, asked him about the recent decision of the German cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, to authorize the blessing of homosexual couples in his diocese. The American pontiff wanted to emphasize, first of all, that “the unity or division of the church does not revolve around sexual issues. We tend to think that when the Church speaks of morality, the only topic is sexual.” “Actually, I believe there are more important issues, such as justice, equality, the freedom of men and women, and religious freedom, which take precedence over that particular issue,” he added.

But then he affirmed that “the Holy See has already addressed the German bishops and has made it clear that it does not agree with the formal blessing of homosexual couples”, beyond “what Pope Francis specifically said when stating that all people receive blessings”.

In 2023, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose prefect is the Argentinian cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, published the document ‘Fiducia Supplicans’, in which the possibility of blessing couples “in irregular situations” or of the same sex is accepted, but without equating them to marriage. In the text, it was also stated that the blessing cannot be offered in a precise ritual nor will it be given to people dressed for a wedding. The African Church then unanimously expressed its rejection of the document and requested clarifications from Pope Francis.

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“When a priest gives a blessing at the end of Mass, when the Pope gives a blessing at the end of a great celebration like the one we had today, all people are blessed,” clarified Leo XIV today. And then, he added, that Pope Francis’ famous expression of “todos, todos, todos”, “is the expression in which the Church believes that everyone is welcome, everyone is invited, everyone is invited to follow Jesus and everyone is invited to seek conversion in their lives”. “I believe this topic can cause more disunity than unity, and that we should seek ways to build our unity on Jesus Christ and on what Jesus Christ teaches,” he pointed out. EFE