By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 22: Catholic priests in Shillong have been permitted to bless same-sex couples without any kind of church ceremony that mimics a marriage rite.
“The Catholic Church issued the declaration ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ through The Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith and approved by Pope Francis,” Archbishop of Shillong Victor Lyngdoh said in a statement that followed the Vatican’s official approval for Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples—as long as those benedictions are kept separate from marriage.
Promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine is the responsibility of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, an organisation established to protect the Catholic Church against heresy.
The declaration allows Catholic priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, emphasizing the pastoral aspect without incorporating any formal marriage rites. The statement further specifies that the blessing would be a spontaneous prayer of a priest with informal words.
Emphasizing that this should not be mistaken as the official liturgical and ritual blessings of the Church during marriage, it underlined the sanctity and emphasized a distinction between informal blessings and the official liturgical rituals.
