Pope Leo XIV rejects the ceremonial blessing of homosexual couples introduced in Germany and other European countries.
He made his comments in an interview with the US Vatican correspondent Elise Ann Allen from the portal "Crux", which was published in advance on Thursday.
The Pope literally said that the church blessings introduced in some countries "clearly violate the document 'Fiducia supplicans' authorised by Pope Francis ".
In this document, the Vatican authorised the blessing of people in homosexual partnerships for the first time ever in December 2023.
At the same time, the document emphasises that this should not be a solemn blessing as in the case of a marriage between a man and a woman.
"This does not correspond to the teachings of the Church"
Regarding the blessing of homosexuals, the Pope said in the interview that the core statement of the document is: "Of course we can bless all people."
At the same time, he emphasised that the document was "not looking for a way to ritualise any form of blessing, because that does not correspond to the teaching of the Church".
Leo announced that, like his predecessor Francis, he would continue to speak about the value of the family, which is "based on the solemn promise of a man and a woman, blessed in the sacrament of marriage".
With regard to same-sex loving couples, this "does not mean that these people are bad people".
It is "important to accept people who are different from us and to accept that they have made choices in their lives and that we respect them".
The Vatican document "Fiducia supplicans" authorised by Francis led to widely divergent reactions in the global Catholic Church.
While it was radically rejected by bishops, particularly in Africa, some dioceses in Germany and Belgium took the idea significantly further and authorised the solemn blessing of homosexual couples in church.