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15th March 2021
05:02pm GMT
In an official statement released today, The Vatican said that the Catholic Church would not bless same-sex marriages.
This announcement will be met with frustration by many, including the LGBTQ community, as the rift between an institution built upon deeply rooted beliefs and modern society continues to widen.
The statement, which has been translated into several languages, was approved by Pope Francis.
In a statement from the Holy See Press office, a spokesperson for the Church said that same-sex relationships are not lawful as the union is "not ordered to the Creator’s plan."
The Holy See described "homosexuality" being "sinful" and a "choice" that is actively made by an individual.
The statement went on to say that the Church could not give its "blessing" to people engaging in any form of "sexual activity outside of marriage", no matter how "stable" the relationship was.
Referring back to Catholic teachings, the statement said: “There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”
The Church veered away from any suggestion that they were being discriminatory in the statement.
The spokesperson said: "The declaration of the unlawfulness of blessings of unions between persons of the same sex is not therefore, and is not intended to be, a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite and of the very nature of the sacramentals, as the Church understands them."
The Church said that they cannot "encourage a choice and a way of life that cannot be recognised as objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God."
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