Pope Francis defends same-sex blessings declaration, says it is misunderstood

On Sunday, Pope Francis defended a historic ruling that authorised blessings for same-sex couples, implying that many inside the Catholic Church who have opposed it had drawn “ugly conclusions” from their ignorance of the matter.

Francis spoke in public for the first time in a television interview after the 18 December pronouncement caused a stir inside the Church and certain bishops in some nations—especially in Africa—refused to allow their priests to carry it out.

“Sometimes decisions are not accepted, but in most cases when decisions are not accepted, it is because they are not understood,” Francis said in response to a specific question about the December declaration.

“The danger is that if I don’t like something and I put it (the opposition) in my heart, I become a resistance and jump to ugly conclusions,” he said during a link from his Vatican residence with the “Che Tempo Che Fa” program on Italy’s Channel 9.

“This is what happened with these latest decisions on blessings for all,” he said, referring to the declaration known by its Latin title Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust). It was issued by the Vatican’s doctrinal department and approved by him.

The Vatican has made a point of emphasising that the blessings do not condone homosexual behaviour and are in no way comparable to the sacrament of marriage for heterosexual couples ever since the initial proclamation.

Nonetheless, bishops in Africa, where same-sex behaviour may result in jail or even the death penalty in certain nations, were unmoved by an explanation provided earlier this month by the Vatican’s doctrinal department.

They said in a letter this week that the 18 December statement had created “unrest in the minds of many” and that the cultural backdrop of the continent prevented it from being implemented.

Bishops in France instructed their priests to bless single homosexual people but not couples.

The Church teaches that gay sex is sinful and disordered and people with same-sex attractions should try to be chaste and the pope appeared to be alluding to this is his response.

“The Lord blesses everyone,” Francis said. “But then people have to enter into a dialogue with the blessing of the Lord and see the path that the Lord proposes. We (the Church) have to take them by the hand and lead them along that path and not condemn them from the start”.

Since his election in 2013, Francis has tried to make the Church, with its 1.35 billion members, more welcoming to LGBT people, without changing moral doctrine.