{"id":13652,"date":"2021-03-15T19:29:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T23:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=13652"},"modified":"2021-03-17T12:14:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T16:14:05","slug":"cdf-on-blessing-of-same-sex-unions-a-very-short-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2021\/03\/cdf-on-blessing-of-same-sex-unions-a-very-short-post.html","title":{"rendered":"CDF on Blessing of “Same-Sex Unions”: A very short post"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

expanding on the thing I\u2019m quoted saying in this America<\/em> piece<\/a>. My apologies if the line breaks are weird; this is c&p\u2019d from my email.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad that the CDF mentioned \u201cpositive elements\u201d of sexually-active gay relationships. It\u2019s an act of wisdom and humility to see that many people enter into these relationships because they\u2019re trying to lead lives of care, devotion, and love. But what happens when people in such a union come to the Church and seek Her guidance in living out their love? What are the actual possible paths for such a couple to love as practicing Catholics?<\/div>\n
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Such possible paths would include covenant or vowed friendships. We see these in Scripture, in the love shared by Jonathan and David, and they were practiced for centuries by Christians seeking to become kin to someone of the same sex. The CDF weirdly assumes here that the only kind of same-sex love anybody might want to bless is a sexual union, but many people (of all sexual orientations) are rediscovering<\/a> traditions in which friends became family to one another.<\/div>\n
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There are many such traditions; the Western ones<\/a> traditionally didn\u2019t involve a priest\u2019s blessing, but it seems obvious why two people might want a priest to bless their union as they seek to do something as countercultural as pursuing a life of shared celibate love.* I don\u2019t see anything in the CDF response which would bar such a blessing\u2013largely because the CDF response simply doesn\u2019t offer any guidance for the \u201cpositive elements\u201d it acknowledges in gay marriages. Some encouragement, some suggestion that it\u2019s possible to live out these \u201cpositive elements\u201d in harmony with the Catholic faith, would have made this statement more hopeful for gay people (especially those in same-sex unions, whether sexual or celibate) and more helpful for the priests who seek to guide us.<\/div>\n
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* I know I\u2019m using \u201ccelibate\u201d loosely here, don\u2019t @ me. ANYWAY, too often Church hierarchs speak in terms of either a) here\u2019s what you can\u2019t do (a catechism of \u201cno\u201d) or b) the Church\u2019s teaching isn\u2019t quite as bad as you might think! Neither of these are really guidance for people\u2019s loves and imho the second one is often less \u201cpastoral\u201d or healing than just a straightforward, self-abasing acknowledgment of concrete ways<\/a> gay people have been harmed in Catholic settings. (See also this very powerful post<\/a>.)<\/div>\n
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The Church can guide our loves. But nobody\u2019s gonna trust Her if Catholics focus on protecting doctrines and ignore the need to defend people. Jesus defended the woman taken in adultery before he said anything at all to her\u2013even \u201cNeither do I condemn you\u201d!\u2013and this is the right order of priorities.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Anyway I said all this stuff better, I think, in that Washington Post<\/em> piece<\/a> from last year, but here I am saying it again, there is nothing new under the sun. This post by Chris Damian<\/a> is also relevant and helpful imo. ETA: If you\u2019d like my longer thoughts on traditions of vowed friendship & the role of the priest\u2019s blessing, they are here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

expanding on the thing I\u2019m quoted saying in this America piece. My apologies if the line breaks are weird; this is c&p\u2019d from my email. I\u2019m glad that the CDF mentioned \u201cpositive elements\u201d of sexually-active gay relationships. It\u2019s an act of wisdom and humility to see that many people enter into these relationships because they\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[1264,11],"class_list":["post-13652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-catholic-whatnot","category-mackerel-snapping","tag-gay-catholic-whatnot","tag-his-banner-over-me-was-love"],"yoast_head":"\nCDF on Blessing of "Same-Sex Unions": A very short post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"expanding on the thing I'm quoted saying in this America piece. 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