87-year-old Pope Francis took many members of the Catholic church by surprise when he announced that gay couples could receive a papal blessing. Following the liberal “love is love” mantra, his holiness has been making a bit of a mockery of decades of Catholic teachings. In an interview with Italian Magazine Credere published on February 8th, he spoke of how hypocritical he finds the objections to his decision.
“No one is scandalized if I give a blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people: and that is a most serious sin! Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual… This is hypocrisy! We all have to respect each other. Everyone! The heart of the document is welcome.”
These blessings over what he calls “irregular” unions were authorized through a document the Pope released on December 18, 2023. Mainly accepted with minimal funfair in the West, priests in Africa immediately rejected the idea. They pointed out how this is inappropriate and clashes with the culture of African communities.
Speaking with Don Vincenzo Vitale, the Pope explained, “I don’t bless a ‘same-sex marriage,’ I bless two people who love each other, and I also ask them to pray for me. Always in confession, when these situations come, homosexual people, remarried people, I always pray and bless. Blessing should not be denied to anyone.”
An idea like this is certainly new to the church but not new to the Bible. 1st Corinthians talks about living as the Lord commands of you and letting others live as he commands them. With the Pope living as the Lord has told him, he is not excusing the sin of homosexuality or being remarried. Rather, he is doing the Lord’s work and following in his teachings. While the way he is going about it is unconventional, we all know the Lord works in mysterious ways.
