Vatican Rules Against Blessing Same-Sex Marriage

The Catholic Church will not be blessing same-sex unions, the Vatican said earlier this week, because it “cannot bless sin.”

The Vatican was responding to a formal question from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, asking whether the Catholic clergy has the authority to bless same-sex unions.

The answer was an emphatic "no," according to a two-page explanation approved by Pope Francis and published in seven languages.

"The note distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions," per The Associated Press. "It argued that such unions are not part of God's plan and that any sacramental recognition of them could be confused with marriage."

Treating gay people with dignity and respect has always been the Vatican's stance, but it has also called gay sex "intrinsically disordered." Catholic teaching states that marriage is a sacramental commitment between a man and woman and God's design for the procreation and education of children.