Rebel priests in Austria have refused to follow the Vatican’s orders that would ban priests from blessing same-sex unions.
A blessing is given by the priest or other ministers with the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Within some parishes around the world, priests have been blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage.
On Monday, the Vatican said it’s “impossible” for the Catholic Church to bless these unions, because God can’t “bless sin”, apparently.
The message from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) was approved by Pope Francis, who said it was “not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite.”
Despite the CDF’s statement, a number of dissident Roman Catholic priests are sticking it to the Man upstairs.
The Austrian Parish Priests Initiative is fronted by Father Helmut Schüller, who has long called for the Vatican to allow priests to marry and for women to be ordained.
“We members of the Parish Priests Initiative are deeply appalled by the new Roman decree that seeks to prohibit the blessing of same-sex loving couples,” the group said in a statement, as per Reuters.
“This is a relapse into times that we had hoped to have overcome with Pope Francis.
“We will – in solidarity with so many – not reject any loving couple in the future who ask to celebrate God’s blessing, which they experience every day, also in a worship service.”
As you can imagine, the Vatican isn’t the biggest fan of Schüller. Back in 2012, he was stripped of his honorary title of monsignor, given to him by the late Pope John Paul II.
Schüller assumed it was because he made an appeal to the Church to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive sacraments and pushed for the ordination of women and married men.
On Wednesday, living legend Elton John dragged the Vatican to Hell and back after pointing out that it had invested “millions” into his biopic – “a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David [Furnish].”
How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they “are sin”, yet happily make a profit from investing millions in “Rocketman” – a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?? #hypocrisy@VaticanNews @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/sURtrWB6Nd
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) March 15, 2021
The Roman Catholic Church? Hypocritical? Groundbreaking.
