What Does the CBCP Think of the Vatican's Stance on Blessing Same-Sex Couples?

Recent news about Pope Francis’ approval of blessing same-sex couples, through the Declaration of “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has created confusion and sparked a range of sentiments among Catholics and non-Catholics. With many opinionated yet misinformed netizens joining the online discourse, dialogues sometimes descend into regrettable levels.

“Ibang Diyos ang pinaglilingkuran niya,” commented one netizen in a GMA News article about the Pope’s declaration. 

“We are living in the last days... Pray without ceasing...Malapit na po talaga. Nagpapagamit na rin ang mga pinakamatataas na member ng religion sa katiwalian,” warned another. 

An internet user believed it’s “not based on doctrines, it’s politics.” 

An obviously confused commenter remarked, “How can God bless something He's opposed to? That would be just a blessing of man, not of GOD. Respect the holiness of GOD, even if people will hate you for it, Sir.” 

A netizen echoed the prevailing misconception of many, saying, “Giving a blessing to them is the same as acknowledging their marriage.” 

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To shed light on the matter, the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines) has issued a statement through Archbishop Socrates Villegas of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. The statement, entitled “Blessings of Mercy: Episcopal Guidance for the Implementation of Fiducia Supplicans,” mainly reaffirms the Vatican's declaration that allows Catholic priests to offer blessing—emphasizing the term “blessing”—to Catholic couples in “irregular situations.” This includes cohabitating relationships, non-sacramental civil marriages, divorced and remarried unions, polygamous bonds, and same-sex unions.

The Archdiocese explains that blessing of same-sex couples doesn’t officially validate the status of the couple or alter the Church's longstanding teachings on marriage—that it is a lifelong union between a man and a woman. 

Fiducia supplicans highlights the pastoral meanings of blessings and identifies two types: liturgical or ritual blessings, which are official blessings of the Catholic Church, and spontaneous blessings, which are informal words of blessing chosen by a priest upon the request of the faithful.

The Archdiocese stresses that the liturgical or ritual blessings, or the rites that occur during holy matrimony, can never be used to bless couples in irregular situations. The spontaneous blessings may be used in irregular situations if the couple humbly approaches the priest seeking God's mercy. 

What does it mean when a Catholic priest blesses a couple in a cohabitating relationship, a polygamous bond, or a same-sex union?

The faithful needs to understand that “a blessing is an invocation to God—a request to God—to exercise His power on a person or a thing. Human beings cannot bless. Only God can.” 

God’s blessing can do two things. First, it can dispel the evil that may be in a person or a thing (blessing of exorcism). Second, it can also make a person or a thing holy (the blessing of sanctification), like when a priest blesses a newly-married couple during their wedding rite. To this list of blessings, Fiducia supplicans now adds a third category of blessing, a blessing of mercy, or a request for pity and for remedy.

When a Catholic priest offers a blessing of mercy to a couple in an irregular situation, praying for their desire to entrust themselves to the Lord's mercy and seek understanding of His plan of love and truth, he seeks God's compassion for both and asks for the grace of conversion to regularize their relationships.

“This blessing of mercy is not and cannot be a blessing of sanctification since we cannot ask God to bless something that, as Fiducia supplicans explains, is not ‘conformed to God’s will, as expressed in the teachings of the Church,’” the statement said.

In short, the CBCP says it is okay for priests to offer blessings to "irregular" couples but still thinks same sex relationships are wrong. 

What do you think?