Conservative trends in Europe: The Vatican ruling against same-sex marriage

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Conservative trends in Europe: The Vatican ruling against same-sex marriage

This article was written by Ghila Amati and reflects her personal analyses and opinions, rather than those of EARS.

The Vatican has recently ruled that same-sex unions cannot be blessed by priests. The ruling led to harsh reactions from the more progressive currents in the Catholic Church. But should we expect something else from a religious and conservative institution like the RCC?

The Vatican ruling
In March 2021, The Vatican ruled against same-sex marriage and stated that same-sex unions cannot be blessed by priests. The Vatican press office wrote that while God “never ceases to bless each of His pilgrim children in this world… He does not and cannot bless sin.”^[1] This news comes as a surprise for those Catholics who saw in Pope Francis a more progressive pope, and hoped he was more welcoming to gay people. In the past years, the pope demonstrated a more open approach towards the LGBTQ community. He met with gay couples and cheered those gay couples that wish to educate their children in the Church. In addition, in 2013, in a famous speech, Pope Francis stated that he cannot negatively judge gay people that are trying to conform to the Church rules and to get close to God.^[2]^{^[3]}

Background for the ruling
What brought the Vatican to suddenly publish this new ruling? It appears that in several countries, such as the US and Germany, many priests began performing and blessing gay marriages. Some other pastors and parishes – and also more conservative believers – asked the Vatican how they should act on the matter. The Vatican published this ruling as a response and in order to create a common policy on the subject.^[4]

Opposition to the ruling inside the Church: Austria
The pope’s ruling encountered much opposition inside the Church itself and in different European countries. After the ruling, many parishes in Austria flew a rainbow flag to show solidarity with the gay community.^[5]Hard’s parish priest, Erich Baldauf, stated that a large number of pastors and clergy that are part of the reform-oriented Priests’ Initiative disagree with what they defined as an ‘outdated position.’^{^[6]}

Opposition in Belgium
The Roman Catholic bishop of Antwerp in Belgium also harshly opposed the Vatican ruling and wrote in the Flemish newspaper De Standaard: “I feel vicarious shame for my Church,” and added: “I want to apologise to all those for whom this response is painful and incomprehensible … their pain for the Church is mine today … God has never been stingy or pedantic with His blessing on people’.”^[7] This response was one of the harshest given by a bishop as a result of the ruling.^[8]

Opposition in Germany
In Germany, 1,000 people – mostly priests – signed a petition refusing to accept the new ruling. They also stated they will still give their blessing to gay couples, if asked. Burkhard Hose, head of the initiative, even called for “pastoral disobedience,” that is to continue blessing homosexual marriages despite the Vatican ruling.^[9]^{^[10]}

Opposition outside Europe
The Catholic Church also encountered opposition and protests outside Europe. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia, protested that the Church is not giving a solution for how to deal with same-sex couples. He stated: “It’s one thing to say we can’t bless same-sex unions. Well let’s then commit ourselves to grappling with the question about how else we might include same-sex couples … It’s just not enough to say, ‘we can’t, we can’t.”^[11]

Finally, in the US, a New York Jesuit, Father James Martin, said he is worried that this new ruling will cause “some LGBTQ Catholics to leave the church, after years of feeling rejected and unwelcome.”^[12] ^[13]

What should we expect?
Should we have expected something different from a religious institution? The Catholic Church is a conservative institution with conservative views towards homosexuality. The Church teaches that the real sin is to perform homosexual acts and does not have a problem with homosexual tendencies. As a consequence, I believe it is not surprising that it cannot approve same-sex marriages.

Yet, it is interesting to note that progressive forces even within such a conservative institution like the Church are very strong and do not passively accept rulings from the Vatican that go against their moral values. It will be interesting to see if the opposition that came from so many countries and bishops will have an influence on the Vatican, or if rather the Vatican will stand up for its conservative principles.

As of now though, the new rulings can be listed together with the other conservatives trends in Europe that I have analysed in my previous articles on Hungary and Poland.

This article was written by Ghila Amati and reflects her personal analyses and opinions, rather than those of EARS.

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^[1] Austrian Catholics fly rainbow flag after same-sex blessing ban

^[2] Vatican ruling on same-sex couples prompts defiance, pain, confusion

^[3] Catholic Church ‘cannot bless same-sex unions’

^[4] Vatican says it will not bless same-sex unions, calling them a ‘sin’

^[5]Austrian Catholics Criticize the Vatican’s Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

^[6] Austrian Catholics fly rainbow flag after same-sex blessing ban

^[7]Belgian bishop lashes out at Vatican over gay unions decree

^[8] Vatican ruling on same-sex couples prompts defiance, pain, confusion

^[9]German Catholic clergy rebel against Vatican over same-sex unions