A group of Catholic priests promise to bless same-sex unions in defiance of recent Vatican leadership.
The group, called the Parish Priests Initiative, said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked” by the decision and promised not to “reject any loving couple asking to celebrate God’s blessing.” according to Reuters.
“Our members of the Parish Priests Initiative are deeply upset about the new Roman decision that wants to ban the blessing of same-sex couples. It’s a setback in times we hoped Pope Francis
Pope FrancisCNN’s Don Lemon on Vatican refuses to bless same-sex unions: ‘God is not about preventing people’ Rita Cosby holds new 77 WABC Radio Evening Program Vatican: Church can no longer bless same-sex unions, ”The group apparently said.
“We will – in solidarity with so many people – in the future reject any loving couple who ask to celebrate God’s blessing, which they experience every day, also in a worship service,” they continued.
The Austrian-based group was formed in 2006 and claims to have 350 members of the official church and more than 3,000 lay supporters, Reuters reports.
The group had previously advocated for the Catholic Church to allow priests and for women to become priests.
The Vatican Monday declared that the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions. It says in a statement that the recognition of same-sex unions could equate them to the sacrament between the union of a man and a woman, which would be ‘wrong and misleading’.
However, the Church emphasized that ‘the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply judgment on persons’.