ROME — A Catholic church outside Bologna bestowed a public blessing on a gay couple last week with the permission of Bologna’s Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, a leading candidate for the next papal election.
Pietro Morotti was joined civilly by Giacomo Spagnoli in Budrio, Bologna on June 11th. After that they proceeded across the square towards the Church of San Lorenzo to celebrate a Mass with 7 Catholic priests.
“It was a blessing of two men just civilly united,”But then Father Antonio Bai, the pastor of Budrio church, said it again. “a blessing is not denied to anyone, right?”
The main celebrant of the thanksgiving Mass — which included all the typical wedding trappings such as flowers, tuxedos, and a photographer — was Father Gabriele Davalli, who has been providing pastoral care for the two men as part of his LGBT outreach and who declared that Bologna Archbishop Cardinal Matteo Zuppi had been informed of the special celebration.
In March 2021, the Vatican’s doctrinal office (CDF) reiterated the Church’s prohibition of blessings for same-sex couples, insisting that God Himself “does not and cannot bless sin.”
Rainbow flags are held by supporters to show their support for the reforms made in the Catholic Church’s handling of homosexual blessings during the congress’s opening day. “Synadoler Weg”Catholic reform movement in Frankfurt on February 03rd, 2022. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
Vatican Text stated that the Catholic Church doesn’t have power to bless unions between people of the same sex. “that what is blessed be objectively and positively ordered to receive and express grace.”
Because the union is legal, it is illegal to bless unions between people of the same sex. “not ordered to the Creator’s plan,”Declared the text
It is a refusal to bless a gay couple. “does not preclude the blessings given to individual persons with homosexual inclinations,”This text has been clarified. “any form of blessing that tends to acknowledge their unions as such.”
The case of a Church blessing for a gay couple outside Bologna has raised quite a stir because the archbishop of Bologna was personally appointed by Pope Francis last month as president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI).
Italian Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi hosts a press conference closing the Italian Bishops’ Conference (Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, CEI) on May 27, 2022 in Rome. (ANDREAS SOLORO/AFP via Getty
The cardinal famously wrote the preface for the Italian edition of Jesuit Father James Martin’s 2018 book Building a bridge: How Catholicism and the LGBT community can enter into a relationship of respect, compassion, and sensibility.
Zuppi, who is also considered to be an important contender for the papal papacy if a conclave were to be held soon, is also a favourite among progressives.
Auguri to Cardinal-designate Matteo Zuppi. A great supporter LGBT Catholics. This is his introduction to my book “Building a Bridge,”Published in Italy “Un ponte da costruire,”He encourages you to take part in these activities “new pastoral attitude”: https://t.co/g8Kf4J9Nej
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) September 1, 2019
John L. Allen, Jr., a veteran Vatican journalist, has placed Cardinal Zuppi in a Crux article, which is an online Catholic news agency. Papabilor Papal Candidates, noting his status “a strong Francis ally”And “a product of the Community of Sant’Egidio,”It has been present in the Catholic peripheries that Francis favored for a long time.
Italian Vatican analyst Domenico Agasso similarly underscored Zuppi’s prominence as a favorite for the papacy, declaring that he knows “no other figure at this high level that has the capacity for dialogue and consensus as Zuppi,”The Communist Daily Newspaper Il Manifesto simply announced that Zuppi is “truly papabile.”
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