Pope Francis approved a ruling in December allowing priests to bless unmarried and same-sex couples so long as the blessing was performed without any type of ritualisation and did not give the impression of the church’s approval of the relationship.
The ruling was embraced by LGBTQ+ Catholics, but caused confusion among bishops in some countries, particularly in Africa, where some bishops said they would not implement it.
In a reminder of Catholic church doctrine on marriage, the Vatican clarified on Thursday that imparting blessings to same-sex couples was “not a justification of all their actions, and they are not an endorsement of the life that they lead”.
However, the measure should not be considered “heretical, contrary to the tradition of the church or blasphemous”.
Priests could opt to give blessings on a case-by-case basis but, while the Vatican acknowledged that such gestures would be “imprudent” in countries where being homosexual could result in torture, prison or even death, they could not apply an outright ban.
In the five-page statement, the Vatican explained that “pastoral blessings” must be kept “very short” and should not justify anything that is “not morally acceptable”.
The statement went into detail over the context in which such gestures could be performed, for example, during a group pilgrimage if two divorced people who were now a couple asked the priest to bless them.
“In this case, the priest can recite a simple prayer … then it concludes with the sign of the cross of the two persons. We are talking about something that lasts 10 or 15 seconds.”
The Vatican reiterated that when a same-sex couple sought a blessing, it “should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding.”
When the measure was announced in December, it was described by one observer as “likely the most concrete pastoral shift on the church’s stance toward gay couples in the church’s 2,000-year history”.
The ruling followed a letter Pope Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October.
In the letter, Francis said such blessings could be offered in certain circumstances, so long as they were not confused with the sacrament of marriage.