After pushback by some bishops in Africa, Poland and elsewhere, the Vatican on Thursday defended the recent move by Pope Francis to allow blessings for same-sex couples, insisting there is nothing “heretical” involved.

In a five-page statement, the Holy See’s office to safeguard doctrinal orthodoxy expressed understanding that some bishops’ conferences need more time for “pastoral reflection” on the pontiff’s formal approval for such blessings.

But “there is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally” from the Declaration about the blessings “or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church or blasphemous,’’ said the statement by the office, formally called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The new rule of blessings came last month in the form of a declaration, an important Catholic church document.

  • Transporter Room 3
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    201 year ago

    Yeah this is one thing that’s been irritating me.

    I had friends in highschool who were catholic, one even got about 75% toward being a priest, and they always said whatever the pope says is catholic “law” (not their word, but I can’t remember the words they said exactly)

    Now suddenly the pope can be wrong? What changed? The bible certainly didn’t…

    • @AA5B
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      11 year ago

      They were idiots? I’m older than most of y’all and Catholic School always taught that the Pope is infallible in matters of doctrine. If your friends only listened to the first half, that’s on them