Yesterday in New York, Fr. James Martin SJ stood in a plush living room and ‘blessed’ Damian Steidl Jack, 44, and his husband, Jason Steidl Jack, 38.
A photographer was hired, a New York Times writer as invited, the couple held hands and Martin stood in front of them blessing them as one would at a wedding.
Only, it was completely spontaneous, it did not resemble a wedding and they were holding hands in recognition of their ‘destitute’ position before God and in recognition of their need for his help.
Try saying that with a straight face, there are many who currently are.
For this reason and many others, bishops around the world have pledged to resist the document, which subverts the 2021 ruling on the same issue.
In reaction, a number of bishops have flat out rejected the demand to engage in a Fr. James Martin style pseudo gay wedding.
In Zambia, bishops have said that they will not participate in the Martinesque pseudo gay weddings:
In Malawi, the front page of newspapers report resistance to the new document:
In Ukraine, the bishops have said:
We see the danger in ambiguous wording that causes divergent interpretations among the faithful. What we missed in the document is that the Gospel calls sinners to conversion, and without a call to leave the sinful life of homosexual couples, the blessing may look like an approval. However, we emphasize that the document repeatedly emphasizes that the blessing of same-sex couples is in no way a legalization of such cohabitation, and the teaching of the Catholic Church on the Sacrament of Matrimony, which is the union of a man and a woman, remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, bishops have heavily criticised the document:
It is likely that more countries, particularly in Africa, will reject this new document and with it, events like those organised by Fr. James Martin.
Meanwhile, there are also individual priests who know now that they will be pressured to give such blessings.
One priest wrote on X:
First. In light of the Tradition of the Church, the principle of non-contradiction and discernment in conscience as a priest of Jesus Christ, I bless the person who seeks the grace of God and the continuous conversion that we all need through the sacraments and the Word of God.
Second. Do not count on me to bless couples of people in a state of mortal sin. I will never publicly or privately impart any blessing, which, ambiguously, by explicitly lacking ritual (n. 38), could imply that vital situations involving mortal sin among practicing adulterers or sodomites are justified, as the document explains.
Third. Communion in the Church springs from fidelity to the deposit of faith that Christ entrusted to the apostles. The living Tradition that seeks the salvation of souls, not camaraderie with a society imbued with the dissolution of the family and gender ideology. Room. Let's pray.
