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Did Pope Francis change Catholic teaching on gay marriage?
The short answer is no. Despite the number of headlines and photos you’re seeing all across the media, Catholic teaching understands now and always that marriage is a privileged union that can only exist between one man and one woman. That bond is forged in the Sacrament of Matrimony, which, like every sacrament, was instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church.
So what’s everyone talking about?
A new doctrinal declaration, titled Fiducia supplicans, issued Dec. 18 by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, offers provisions for how and when gay couples might be blessed.
What’s in the document? And what should Catholics make of it?
Furthermore, the Church teaches that the liturgical rites proper to marriage must be safeguarded for that sacrament. The document teaches, “when it comes to blessings, the Church has the right and the duty to avoid any rite that might contradict this conviction or lead to confusion” (No. 5).
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishopssaid in a statement, “The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.” The declaration, therefore, is not a matter of doctrine as such, but a practical response to encounter and encourage people in their response to the movements of God’s grace.
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
The short answer is no. Despite the number of headlines and photos you’re seeing all across the media, Catholic teaching understands now and always that marriage is a privileged union that can only exist between one man and one woman. That bond is forged in the Sacrament of Matrimony, which, like every sacrament, was instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church.
So what’s everyone talking about?
A new doctrinal declaration, titled Fiducia supplicans, issued Dec. 18 by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, offers provisions for how and when gay couples might be blessed.
What’s in the document? And what should Catholics make of it?
Catholic teaching on marriage
Pope Francis did not redefine marriage. The new declaration teaches, “rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage — which is the ‘exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children’ — and what contradicts it are inadmissible” (Fiducia supplicans, No. 4). Marriage is a gift given by God from the beginning when human beings were created male and female.Furthermore, the Church teaches that the liturgical rites proper to marriage must be safeguarded for that sacrament. The document teaches, “when it comes to blessings, the Church has the right and the duty to avoid any rite that might contradict this conviction or lead to confusion” (No. 5).
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishopssaid in a statement, “The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.” The declaration, therefore, is not a matter of doctrine as such, but a practical response to encounter and encourage people in their response to the movements of God’s grace.
Spontaneous prayers
Continued below.
Did Pope Francis change Catholic teaching on gay marriage?
The short answer is no, Pope Francis didn’t change Church teaching on gay marriage. So what’s everyone talking about? Read about the new Vatican document.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
