The document is carefully worded but is already being mis-applied and used as a cudgel by Catholics of a variety of persuasions. It takes pains to say there is no such thing as same sex marriage.
“In such cases,” it says, “a blessing may be imparted that not only has an ascending value but also involves the invocation of a blessing that descends from God upon those who — recognizing themselves to be destitute and in need of his help — do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
The declaration says that Pope Francis wants these “non-ritualized blessings” to remain spontaneous, never losing their quality as “simple gestures that provide an effective means of increasing trust in God on the part of the people who ask for them, careful that they should not become a liturgical or semi-liturgical act, similar to a sacrament.”
The text stresses that Catholics should “neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation,” but at the same time, “not prevent or prohibit” the Church from responding to people seeking God’s help through “a simple blessing.”
“In a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance — but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely,” it suggests.
Speaking of couples in irregular situations, the text adds that to avoid confusion or scandal blessings must “never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them.”
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