POPE FRANCIS APPROVES SAME-SEX BLESSINGS

The news broke today that Pope Francis has formally approved of in-church blessings of same-sex unions. Find an article about this HERE . 

The pope's monumental decision is a major turn-around at the Vatican. The CATECHISM of the Catholic Church states "under no circumstances can they [homosexual acts] be approved." While a blessing in church does not technically "approve" of homosexual acts, it at the very least takes a neutral view. The church would not be approving of "sinful" relationships with ceremonies inside church buildings. The neutral view would override the moral condemnation of homosexuality that the traditional Catechism contains. 

This means that the largest branch of Christianity has moved to moral neutrality on the issue of homosexuality. Just a few days ago, the bishops of the Church of England also approved of the go-ahead of the blessings of same-sex couples in that denomination. Of course, a half-dozen branches of the Anglican Communion have moved to full recognition of same-sex relationships with some, as the American church, actually welcoming same-sex marriages in the church. 

All of this is much to the chagrin of the counter-revolutionaries in all denominations who continue to declare homosexuality to be "disordered" and sinful. The Anglican Church in North America was chartered in 2009 for this very reason. The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina is part of the ACNA and has adopted a "Statement of Faith" (2015) that explicitly forbids ADSC churches from allowing same-sex marriages in the churches. 

Meanwhile, regardless of the reactionaries' protests, the trend among the majority of Christians in the world is to the respect and inclusion of all of God's children. What the pope has done is a major step in this development.