Vatican: Church can’t bless same-sex unions because God doesn’t bless sin

The Catholic Church does not have the authority to bless same-sex unions because God cannot “bless sin,” the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said today.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the powerful body responsible for upholding the integrity of Catholic doctrine, today issued a formal response to the question of whether the Church has the authority to bless same-sex unions. The answer is no.

The response, signed by Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, the doctrine’s minister, states that giving a blessing to same-sex unions is not permitted, AFP reports. No blessing can be given to a relationship or partnership that involves sexual activity outside of Marriage (i.e., other than an unbreakable union between a man and a woman capable of reproducing Life), even if it is a stable relationship, and it is not justified. The same is true for unions between persons of the same sex.

The response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also says that same-sex relationships will not be made the object of blessing by the Church. This is because it is not in accordance with the plan of the Creator.

It also wrote that while God “never ceases to bless the children of this world who make pilgrimages to Him…He does not and cannot bless sin.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith denies that their statement constitutes “some form of unfair discrimination.

The Catholic Church regards marriage as the union of only one man and one woman.

However, Pope Francis has shown unprecedented tolerance for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community since the beginning of his tenure. He once said of homosexuals trying to live as pious Christians, “Who am I to judge?” which has become a widely known quote.

In a documentary released last October, Francis also expressed his support for legal guarantees of same-sex civil unions. Although the Holy See later determined that the pope’s statement had been heavily edited and that his comments against same-sex marriage had been removed from the film.