“How far will this go?”, ask the faithful after the Vatican decision

Pope Francis approved on Monday a text allowing the blessing of so-called “irregular” couples. This includes unmarried, remarried or divorced people, but also same-sex couples. A step forward welcomed by some faithful in Paris, while others question it.

It is a sign of openness within the Catholic Church. Blessing of same-sex couples is now permitted. Pope Francis approved it on Monday December 18 in a document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. This blessing “will never be performed at the same time as the civil rites of union, nor even in connection with them“, specifies the text which recalls that the sacrament of marriage remains exclusively reserved for heterosexual couples.

This conditional blessing, apart from liturgical rituals (weddings, masses, etc.), also concerns other so-called “couples”.irregular“, as unmarried or remarried and divorced. This first for same-sex couples, however, is not unanimous within the Catholic community.

Leaving the office, in front of the Saint-Léon church, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, Nicole greets the news with a smile. “It is a great hope for them“, rejoices this octogenarian, who slips that “evolution is always necessary“.

“If they ask for it, there is no reason for me to refuse it”

For Father Denis Metzinger, this decision of the Pope, “It’s all François“, he smiled. The priest read the eight-page text published by the Vatican. “It is not an approval, it is not to say: what you are doing is wonderful, everything is going very well, but you are asking something from the Church, a sign of the presence of God, well the Church gives it to you”, he explains. “So if they ask for it, there’s no reason for me to refuse it“, adds Father Metzinger. Deacon François Viliminaux will do the same. But according to him, “homosexual couples do not have the path to happiness“, a path he considers”like a little mysterious“. This authorization of blessing does not call into question the doctrine of the Catholic Church on marriage and adoption.

Among the parishioners, opinions are also divided, especially among the youngest. If Alix, 20 years old, doesn’t say to herself “not disturbed, but challenged“By this decision of the sovereign pontiff, Jade, 21 years old, is delighted.”Homosexual people who ask the Church, it means that it matters in their life, it means that it is beautiful for them“, insists the young woman.

Alix agrees, but tempers: “How far will this go?“, she questions. “The faith of our religion is a dad and a mom to create life. Where will the world go if we don’t put limits?“, she asks.