“He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” – Matthew 19:4-5
Media outlets all over the globe were and are continuing to report a breaking story that is directly related to a document released by the Vatican doctrine office on Monday. The released document has caused much confusion for the faithful inside the Roman Catholic Church.
In the released document, Pope Francis approved allowing priests to “bless” same-sex couples. A point of clarification here, Pope Francis did not approve priests to bless same-sex couples “liturgically” or make any change to the sacrament of marriage which is only between one man and one woman.
Pope Francis’ approval of blessing same-sex couples, however, is still a very dangerous and deeply troubling move. The official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is defined in the Church’s catechism. The catechism strongly implies that homosexuality is a sin and defines homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered.”
This is where the confusion lies; how can the Roman pontiff, who is the head of the Catholic Church, approve of priests blessing a homosexual union, even if it is not to be confused with the sacrament of marriage, when the official position of the Church is that homosexuality is wrong and sinful?
Bluntly put, the reality is that Pope Francis has authorized the blessing of sin and is undermining the biblical truth, reaffirmed by Jesus Himself, that marriage is only the union of one man and one woman. Sin cannot be condoned, it should be noted, that the blessing of sin will never bring God glory, or people closer to Him, as sin always leads people further and further from God. Let us be resolved to fulfill Jude’s commission “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3).
LET US PRAY…
Father, please convict Pope Francis of his error in approving priests to bless same-sex couples, and may he reverse this decision. Lord, remind Your people that we can never condone what You have condemned. Father, may we never celebrate sin, but rather celebrate the liberation from sin that is found in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
