Pope Leo: Holy See does not approve formalized blessings of same-sex unions, but ‘all are welcome’ in Church
Pope Leo XIV clarified that the Holy See does not support formal blessings for same‑sex couples. He stressed that Church unity should not revolve around sexual matters. The pope reiterated that all people are welcome in the Catholic Church. His remarks were made on the papal plane after an 11‑day apostolic journey to Africa. He spoke to journalists during the flight back to Rome.
5 months ago
Pope Leo XIV reiterated that the Holy See does not approve formalized blessings for same‑sex couples, while emphasizing that the Church welcomes all people and that its unity should not be defined by sexual issues. His comments came during a press briefing on the return flight from an 11‑day African apostolic journey, and they echo earlier statements by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx and the broader pastoral tone set by Pope Francis. 1 2
Pope Leo clarified that the Vatican “does not agree with the formalized blessing of couples, in this case homosexual couples, or couples in irregular situations,” distinguishing this from the general blessings given to all faithful after Mass, a practice highlighted by Pope Francis’s “Tutti, tutti, tutti” approach. 1 2
He noted that the Holy See has already communicated this stance to the German bishops, reaffirming the existing Vatican position. 1
The pontiff stressed that the Church’s unity “should not revolve around sexual matters,” arguing that issues such as justice, gender equality, and religious freedom merit higher priority. 1
He reiterated that “all are welcome, all are invited” to follow Jesus, suggesting that focusing on same‑sex blessings could generate division rather than cohesion. 1
Leo affirmed a state’s right to regulate borders but warned that migrants must be treated “humanly—not worse than animals.” He urged wealthier nations to address root causes of migration, especially in Africa, to promote justice and equality. 1
The pope called for dialogue and condemned capital punishment, referencing the death of a Muslim child he had met in Lebanon, and expressed concern for civilian suffering amid the Iran war. 1
Defending the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with regimes such as Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, Leo said the Holy See works behind the scenes to promote justice, humanitarian aid, and the possible release of political prisoners. 1
The inquiry about same‑sex blessings originated from a German journalist on the papal plane, referencing Cardinal Marx’s recent authorization of such blessings in his archdiocese. Pope Leo’s response reaffirmed the Vatican’s consistent teaching while allowing for the general blessings extended to all people. 2
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Assess Catholic doctrine on blessings for same‑sex unions
Catholic teaching distinguishes carefully between blessing persons and blessing unions—especially where a union is understood as involving sexual activity outside marriage. On that basis, the Church teaches that she cannot bless same-sex unions in the sense intended as an ecclesial endorsement of the union itself, while still allowing pastoral gestures toward individuals in accord with Catholic doctrine.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) explains that, in light of the nature of sacramentals, when the Church invokes a blessing on human relationships, “it is necessary that what is blessed be objectively and positively ordered to receive and express grace” according to God’s plan in creation and revealed by Christ.
Therefore, not every “positive” relationship can become a legitimate object of an ecclesial blessing, because the blessing must be ordered to the ends God intends. The CDF states: “it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships… that involve sexual activity outside of marriage… as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex.”
In its Responsum (2021), the CDF answers the formal dubium directly: “RESPONSE: Negative.”
The same Responsum adds an important clarification: this negative answer does not preclude blessings given to individual persons who have homosexual inclinations and “manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching.”
It further explains the core reason the Church judges such union-blessings illicit: a union-blessing would not primarily express the intention to entrust persons to God’s help and protection for the good of their life in Christ; it would tend to approve and encourage a way of life that cannot be recognized as objectively ordered to God’s plan.
The CDF also reasons sacramentally: because blessings on persons are “in relationship with the sacraments,” “the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit,” since it would constitute an “imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing” that the Church gives to man and woman in the sacrament of Matrimony.
Catholic doctrine holds that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman ordered to essential goods—especially unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility.
The Catechism summarizes marriage as “ordered… toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring” and teaches it is “raised… to the dignity of a sacrament.”
This doctrinal view undergirds the Church’s reasoning about what relationships can be the proper object of an ecclesial blessing: if a union is not ordered to the Creator’s plan as marriage is, then it is not congruent with what the Church understands blessing to signify.
In 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an explanatory press material regarding the reception of Fiducia supplicans and clarified how “pastoral blessings” should be understood in practice.
The press material states that these blessings are not a sacrament or a formal rite: they are “simple expressions of pastoral closeness” and “do not impose the same requirements as a sacrament or a formal rite.”
It also emphasizes that a minister giving such a blessing is not thereby “ratifying” Catholic doctrine: “we are not consecrating them nor… congratulating them nor indeed… approving that type of union.”
The same material stresses concrete limits intended to prevent confusion with liturgical marriage:
Taken together, the CDF’s 2021 Responsum gives the doctrinal boundary: blessings that tend to acknowledge and encourage same-sex unions as unions (in a union-endorsement sense) are not licit.
The 2024 pastoral clarifications then stress how certain brief “pastoral closeness” gestures must be carefully de-formalized so they do not function as an ecclesial endorsement or as a wedding-like rite.
The CDF explicitly rejects the argument that the presence of “positive elements” within a same-sex union could justify making the union a legitimate object of ecclesial blessing. It states that those positive elements “cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing” because they exist within a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan.
If you want, you can share the specific wording of the blessing practice you’re evaluating (or the text of a reported directive), and you can be given a doctrine-based check against these boundaries.