The Vatican slams the Catholic Church in Kentucky for giving a lesbian couple a 'private blessing' from a priest wearing a rainbow scarf

The Vatican has demolished a Catholic church in Kentucky after a bishop gave a “private blessing” to a lesbian couple.

Wearing a long rainbow-colored scarf, the Very Rev. Richard Watson blessed the couple on Dec. 31 at Historic Saint Paul Catholic Church in Lexington.

The church shared an image of the ritual via Facebook on New Year's Day, with the caption: “History was made on Sunday at the historic St. Paul Catholic Church.

“This same-sex couple, who had been civilly married for 22 years, requested a blessing that Father Richard freely offered according to the guidelines in Fiducia Supplicans.”

But the Vatican disagreed with this interpretation of the 2023 doctrine and issued a press release to counter it.

“Fiducia supplicans” does not change the doctrine on marriage,” the Vatican said, clarifying that it allows people of the same sex to be blessed, but not their marital union.

A stream of parishioners and online observers also condemned the blessing – flooding the church's Facebook post with a barrage of angry comments.

Michael J Matt, the editor of the Catholic newspaper The Remnant, went to X to denounce the ceremony.

“This is not the personal blessing for individuals that some claim is the intended purpose of the new Vatican document,” he said.

“This is a 'married' lesbian couple receiving a public blessing in church.

“But these are the optics they must have known would appear on the Internet as soon as the ink was dry on the papal signature.

'Out and proud in the sanctuary. The priest even brought out his rainbow stole for the occasion. This looks like approval, doesn't it? And that's the whole point.'

In December, Pope Francis formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, while reaffirming that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The new document explained a radical change in Vatican policy, emphasizing that worshipers seeking God's love and mercy should not be subjected to “an exhaustive moral analysis” in order to receive it.

The text built on a letter Francis sent two months earlier to two conservative cardinals.

In that preliminary response, the pope suggested that such blessings could be offered under certain circumstances, if they did not confuse the ritual with the sacrament of matrimony.

The new document reiterates and expands on this rationale, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman.

And it emphasizes that blessings should not be conferred at the same time as a civil marriage, or even with the dress and gestures associated with a wedding.

But it says that as a rule of thumb, requests for such blessings should not be rejected.

It provides a comprehensive definition of the term 'blessing' in the Bible.' “Ultimately, a blessing provides people with a means to increase their trust in God,” the document said.

'The request for a blessing thus expresses and nourishes openness to transcendence, mercy and closeness to God in a thousand concrete life circumstances, which is no small thing in the world we live in.'

He added, “It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that is to be cherished and not hindered.”

The Vatican believes that marriage is an inseparable bond between a man and a woman. As a result, the country has long been opposed to gay marriage.

And in 2021, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said outright that the church could not bless the unions of two men or two women because “God cannot bless sin.”

That document caused a lot of outrage and it seemed that even Pope Francis was blindsided by it, even though he had technically approved its publication.

Shortly after it was published, he fired the official responsible for it and began laying the groundwork for a turnaround.

In the new document, the Vatican said the Church should “shun doctrinal or disciplinary schemes, especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism that, instead of evangelizing, analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace.” , one exhausts his or her energy in inspecting and verifying'.

It emphasized that people in “irregular” unions – gay or straight – are in a state of sin. But it said that this should not deprive them of God's love or mercy.

“Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be made a condition for granting it,” the document said.

The Rev. James Martin, who advocates for a greater welcome for LGBTQ+ Catholics, praised the new document as a “huge step forward” and a “dramatic change” from the Vatican's 2021 policy.

The new document “recognizes the deep longing of many Catholic same-sex couples for God's presence and help in their committed relationships,” he said in an email.

“Together with many Catholic priests, I will now happily bless my friends in same-sex marriage.”

Traditionalists, however, were outraged. Luigi Casalini of the blog Messa in Latino (Latin Mass) wrote that the document seemed like a form of heresy.

“The Church is crumbling,” he wrote.