Pope Francis authorises blessings for same-sex couples
The blessings may be carried out providing they are not part of regular Church rituals or liturgies, nor at the same time as a civil union, according to a Vatican document approved by the pope on Monday, December 18, 2023.
According to CNN, the latest ruling fleshes out the opening the pope made to blessing same-sex couples last October and marks a shift away from a 2021 ruling from the Vatican doctrine office which barred any blessings saying God “cannot bless sin.”
The new ruling says it is opening “the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex” although says it is leaving decisions to “the prudent and fatherly discernment of ordained ministers.”
UK pushing to legalise same-sex marriage in OTs
While there are many Catholics in the [British] Virgin Islands, same-sex marriage is illegal in the territory, even as the United Kingdom (UK) has been pushing for the Overseas Territories (Ots) to legalise it.
In 2019, a report by the UK House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee advised the United Kingdom (UK) government to force the 14 British Overseas Territories (OTs) to legalise same-sex marriages.
But the UK government responded by saying it had no plans to do so, instead pledging to continue encouraging OTs to “recognise and protect same-sex relationships.”
In July 2022; however, a Private Members Bill seeking to legalise same-sex marriages in the British Overseas Territories was introduced in the House of Lords by gay rights pioneer Lord Michael M. Cashman.
The proposed bill extends to six Overseas Territories; Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Anguilla, [British] Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It will seek to introduce equal civil marriage for same-sex and different-sex couples.
‘Ideological colonialism’
Premier Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), as well as the BVI Christian Council (BVICC) had condemned the bill.
The BVICC had said the attempts to force the OTs to legalise same-sex marriages is nothing short of ideological colonialism.
Premier Wheatley had said he did not agree for any legislation to be imposed on the people of the Virgin Islands from the United Kingdom parliament.
‘We can make & amend laws for ourselves’- Premier Wheatley
“We have our own parliament, and we can make and amend laws for ourselves,” Dr Wheatley had stated to Virgin Islands News Online.
Meanwhile, the Premier had promised a referendum on same-sex marriage for this year but the plan fell through due to what the Premier said were legislative changes needing to be made to the Elections Act.
“We are committed to the referendum moving forward,” Dr Wheatley had said.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Christian Concern and UK lawyer Mrs Andrea M. Williams had said in March that the VI, being a nation based on a belief in God as stated in its constitution, should not even consider a referendum on same-sex marriage.
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41 Responses to “Pope Francis authorises blessings for same-sex couples”
No, God certainly wouldn't change His mind on same sex marriage and indulgences in sex of the same gender. Many minds have changed, but God has not, and will never changed His, rest assured.
1. Your religion shouldn't affect anyone else. (Marriage is not a religious invention, it existed prior to christianity adopting it)
2. Even the Pope is in favor.
Shut up, move on. Let people be and find something more important to work on.
You know what this will mean if it is legalized? Law suits and strict penalties will be put in place to protect those who feel as if they are being discriminated and look down on for their choice of living. Some persons will go against their conscience to please their customers and clients knowing well they don't support that kind of lifestyle. But to get business, they will give in.
Just imagine for a while when the rubber hit the road and we see them up and down town holding hands, kissing and want to marry here. You gon see who is the real from the fake. Some of us behind our computers blogging against it, but I want to see what our leaders will do, what the residents will do. What you will do when they enter your business places and want to rent your homes.
I am reminded of Sodom and Gomorra. It was not a parable, it was for real. God is against and condemn homosexuality, that's why he destroyed those cities.
in life you must have one male and one female to produce.
Even mechanical parts have a male and female part. A screwdriver cant screw into itself. you must screw it into something or out of something. Think about it
Leviticus 18:22 ~ You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 ~ If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Jude 1:7 ~ Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Stand for righteousness BVI!!
However, let me hasten to say Pope or POPE NOT. They are not above God. at the final analysis. They ALL even that Pope MUST I Mean MUST stand before Almighty God to give an account, God's word will never change. Catholic word and Law can change a million time over, but remember what God says to one, He says to all, REPENT, His Kingdom is at hand. though the vision tarry, wait for it. his coming today is nearer thsn it was yesterday.
thank goodness times change...people move on..acceptance comes with time...Imagine how life would be if it didnt.
Have you read the rest of it? I hope you don’t have any interest bearing accounts (Leviticus 25: 36-37), and despise the disabled who aren’t worthy to go to church (Leviticus 21:16-23) and consider women to be less than men by 2 fifths (Leviticus 27:2-4), all women who give birth to daughters are unclean for 66 days (Leviticus 1:2-5), if you disobey God you have to eat the flesh of your sons and daughters (Leviticus 26:27-30).
Please keep stones handy and a good lawyer to explain to the police all the stoning of people you are going to have to be doing
Let’s add some Deuteronomy 23:2 bastards can’t enter the church. I hope your parents were married.
All the best buddy
- Being rich
- Selling out
What was the most effective off these tools of pure wickedness?
The white man's religion.
And look at the Caribbean. People bursting with righteous belief. People who think they are smart. People who think they have seen through the curtain and understand the wickedness of the colonial oppressive system, act like they are heroes for their people - and yet very few question/notice the link between this vicious christian fundamentalism with control over slaves and the centuries of colonialism.
Wake up. Or just be decent to other humans and stop pretending your accident of birth makes you chosen by God.