BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — A major policy shift came from the Roman Catholic Church Monday. Pope Francis announced priests can now bless same-sex couples, but the church remains against gay marriage.
7 News is a Voice for Everyone and we reached out to those impacted by this decision.
“I’m beyond thrilled and it really is a monumental change and a shift, especially in Catholicism, but also in the religious space,” declared Mitch Nowakowski, Fillmore District, Buffalo Common Council.
“I think that will be very welcomed for many people across the community, LGBTQ people and their families,” responded Byran Ball, president, Stonewall Democrats of Western New York.
Both Ball and Nowakowski are members of the LGBTQ+ l- community and were raised Catholic. They're pleased to learn Pope Francis says Roman Catholic priests will now be allowed to “bless” same-sex unions.
“If we're to be able to personally say anything to Pope Francis about this, I would absolutely start with a thank you that this is, this is something for the LGBTQ community that would go towards giving, helping to restore our dignity in the eyes of the church,” described Ball.
“But I also think it's a monumental day for people that love LGBTQ people and are going to church every Sunday, so I think of the mom, I think of the brother and the sister, who are saying, you know, now our family members, will not be looked at and ridiculed and shamed but really be embraced,” remarked Nowakowski. “This opens up the pathway to people to be able to attend catholic church and feel dignified as a human being.”
The Vatican issued this new document Monday stating those seeking God's love and mercy should not be subject to quote "an exhaustive moral analysis". It’s a radical change, considering the Catholic church's tough teaching against same-sex.
“Growing up gay in an institution that you know, had harsh language that said because who you are, you'll be deemed to hell, really plays on the mental health of a person and of LGBT people,” recalled Nowakowski.
But leadership in the Catholic Church stresses that this is not about marrying same-sex couples. It is only about a blessing.
“But this is a pretty bold step, because, yes, a blessing is not performing a marriage and I think most people understand that religions have their own views on what marriage means,” commented Nowakowski.
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo issued the following written statement on the matter:
Statement on the Release of Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust)
With this morning’s release of “Supplicating Trust” from Pope Francis, the pontiff has communicated and responded to themes advanced through the Synod process in the church’s effort to be more welcoming to all God’s children.
Although we have not had time to study the document more fully, we understand that Catholic priests may now bless a same sex couple, or other unmarried couples, as long as it is not a formal liturgical blessing and that the blessing does not impart the impression that the Church is blessing the union as if it were a marriage.
Pope Francis insists that marriage is an "exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to conceiving children," which is why the Church "avoids all kinds of rites or sacramentals that could contradict this conviction and imply that it is recognizing as a marriage something that is not."
At the same time, the pope said, "pastoral prudence must adequately discern if there are forms of blessing, solicited by one or various persons, that don't transmit a mistaken concept of marriage."
We embrace studying the document more fully and will work with our priests and deacons on how we implement this directive pastorally in the Diocese of Buffalo as we move forward.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend Michael W. Fisher
Bishop of Buffalo
But both Nowakowski and Ball tell me the church needs to take it to that next step and recognize same-sex marriages.
“That the incremental, very small progress that's made, it's still being handicapped by these limits, that the church, unfortunately, still is appearing to uphold,” Ball replied.
“There’s almost like a trauma when you talk to the LGBTQ+ community and organized religion because they've been so sparsely separate and they've really felt rejected by religion,” Nowakowski answered.
