(ProsperNews.net) – A black Christian church in the US has condemned Pope Francis for giving his blessing to gay marriage. Rev. Eugene F. Rivers III, founder of the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies and a minister for the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ, wrote a letter to the Pope saying he condemns the “decision to bless homosexual unions.”
The letter also praises the Catholic leader for his “recent denunciation of the egregious violence carried out by Hamas on October 7 and now being continued by the nation of Israel in Gaza.” Referring to gay marriage, the letter states, “The decision is already almost universally being interpreted as approving the blessing of sexual sin; indeed, it invites the inference that it was meant to be interpreted thus.”
In December, the Pope announced that Catholic clergy can bless gay unions, but these should not be equated with the sacrament of heterosexual marriage. He said priests were free to judge on a case-by-case basis and “should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing.”
The announcement was criticized and praised, and prominent American Jesuit Father James Martin said it was “a major step forward in the church’s ministry.” On the other hand, Ulrich L. Lehner, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the ruling would invite confusion and misunderstanding among the church’s faithful. Lehner described the Pope’s words as an “invitation to schism.”
The church’s decision to bless gay unions overturned a previous ruling in 2021 when the Vatican stated that the church “cannot bless sin.” At that time, the Pope noted that the decision not to allow same-gender blessings was not “intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite.”
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg replied to the 2021 ruling by posting photos of his wedding to Chasten Buttigieg on social media.
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