No, Pope Francis Does Not Support Gay Marriage

While he has remained ambiguous about the pastoral care of those with same-sex attraction, he has never advocated a reinterpretation of the church’s understanding of marriage. 

T here has been much confusion in the last 48 hours over a letter composed by Pope Francis that the Vatican released on Monday. The letter is dated September 25. Writing in Spanish, Pope Francis responded to five main concerns put forth by several high-ranking churchmen this summer. On July 10, in a letter (in Italian) to Pope Francis, five conservative cardinals had outlined five dubia (“doubts”) regarding the pope’s teachings and methods. They explained their skepticism about his teachings on such topics as the reinterpretation of divine revelation, the proper authority of synods, and the possibility of conferring of priestly ordination on women. The dubium that popular outlets have given the most attention to is undeniably the second, the one regarding the “practice of blessing unions with people of the same sex.”

I have found that the internet is brimming with unfaithful summaries and pearl-clutching in response to what Pope Francis wrote, so the goal of this article is to provide some clarity on the topic. (Pope Francis’s original letter is available at the Vatican’s website — an unofficial English translation, from which I will be quoting, is available here.)

In the second dubium, the five cardinals pose the following question to Pope Francis:

“In the beginning,” God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them, and blessed them to be fruitful (cf. Genesis 1:27–28). . . . We ask: can the Church deviate from this “principle,” considering it . . . as a mere ideal, and accept as a “possible good” objectively sinful situations, such as unions with persons of the same sex, without departing from the revealed doctrine?

Pope Francis, crucially, begins his response to this question by affirming the doctrinal understanding of marriage:

The Church has a very clear understanding of marriage: an exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to procreation. Only this union can be called “marriage.”

He goes on to reject any kind of universal rite of same-sex benediction:

For this reason, the Church avoids any type of rite or sacramental that might contradict this conviction and suggest that something that is not marriage is recognized as marriage.

Pope Francis has no intent to reinterpret the sacrament of marriage, or to advocate anything that could be construed as a rite of gay marriage. He is responding particularly to pastoral questions of what a pastor ought to do if a same-sex couple approaches him and asks for support and guidance in how they might live in communion with the church.

However, in our relationships with people, we must not lose the pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes. . . . Therefore, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons, that do not convey a mistaken concept of marriage. For when a blessing is requested, it is expressing a plea to God for help, a supplication to live better, a trust in a Father who can help us live better.

What Pope Francis proposes is not the affirmation of same-sex sexual intimacy (i.e., of sin, according to the church). He cautions priests against any kind of blessing that could be construed as a sacramental rite. Rather, he proposes the question of how the church might minister to those who are in real relationship with one another, living together, but making “a plea to God for help, a supplication to live better.”

Currently, Catholic traditionalists have offered mostly negative responses to questions about the status of individuals who experience same-sex attraction. They have tended to emphasize what modes of living are not allowed rather than what modes of living would be in keeping with church teaching — or even encouraged by it. They leave unanswered a question that Pope Francis in his letter does not seek to answer either. That is: How might those who experience same-sex attraction live in community in the Catholic Church? Surely the church’s answer cannot be that they are doomed to live alone until they die. If they are barred from the sacrament of marriage and, as in some cases, discouraged from entering religious communities, how are they to form a life with others? Is there a route for them to live with loved ones in accordance with Catholic teaching? This is a real question for which I have found few answers from the traditionalists. Too often they seem to evince a general willingness to say, in effect, “Well, that is their cross to bear.”

According to Christian teaching, each and every person is called to live in self-giving, self-sacrificial love. The church must bear witness to the love of Christ and encourage this love among the faithful. Now, for members of the church who experience same-sex attraction, what might it look like to love one another in Christ? I spoke with Eve Tushnet, an author who, as a devout Catholic with same-sex attraction, often writes and speaks about her life in the church.

Tushnet drew a helpful analogy between a common practice during Mass and the blessing of same-sex couples. During the distribution of Holy Communion, non-Catholics and Catholics who are in a state unfit to receive are encouraged to go up to the priest with their arms crossed over their chest and receive a blessing instead of the eucharist. Why does the priest say a blessing over them, rather than “Convert ye, or be damned, sinner!” or “Go to confession or go to hell, you swine!”? Because it is good that they are there. Going to church is often a first step in righting one’s path. If a same-sex couple reaches out to a priest as they seek to love each other in a way that accords with church teaching, a priestly benediction might be in order. Their road is not an easy one. As Tushnet told me, such souls need to know that “there is genuinely a path forward for them in the church.”

Does the church bless sinners? All the time! Every day! Does the church bless sin? No — the question itself is oxymoronic. A major component of Christian ministry is the willingness of a minister to meet his sheep wherever they are wandering. (I have been involved in different modes of student ministry for nearly a decade, so I have a little experience on which to stake my claim.) Christ, of course, offers the prime example: dining with the tax collectors, chatting with the Samaritan woman at the well, and accepting a bath of perfume from a sinful woman. This does not mean that a minister should speak falsehoods or avoid speaking the truth — again, Christ speaks the truth everywhere and always, but he does not hesitate to place himself in the same context as the sinners he cares for.

In short, aspects of pastoral care will always be prudential — Pope Francis calls on pastors to undertake the “defence of objective truth” in “kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, encouragement.” Ostensibly, he is speaking to the cases of same-sex couples who come to a priest because they want guidance. These are cases of patients coming to a doctor, seeking to become healthy, and wondering whether there is any medicine for them there. Pope Francis is definitively not advocating a benediction rite for same-sex couples who have no interest in following the teachings of the church and are just looking for a pretty ceremony to affirm their lifestyle.

However, Pope Francis’s letter does leave much to be desired if read as universal guidelines for pastoral care. (To be fair: I’m not sure that he intended it for that purpose.) The greatest flaw in the letter is the pope’s intentional ambiguity. Any good teacher must teach clearly. It is true, and must be noted, that Pope Francis does not advocate the establishment of a rite of same-sex blessings, as he explains:

It is not appropriate for a Diocese, a Bishops’ Conference, or any other ecclesial structure to constantly and officially enable procedures or rituals for all kinds of matters, because not everything that “is part of a practical discernment in particular circumstances can be elevated to the level of a rule” as this “would lead to an intolerable casuistry” (Amoris laetitia 304).

And yet he seems to leave the questions of when, where, how, and why entirely up to “pastoral prudence.” Emily Zanotti, a Catholic journalist and contributing editor at the Acton Institute, shrewdly tweeted:

To leave it to priests, by the way, is an exceptional cruelty. It shifts the anger and disappointment that this will sow to the very people who care the most and care for the most. It’s a massive game of “it’s his fault, not mine.” Cruelty.

The trouble with leaving the door open is that false interpretations are much more likely to creep in. The laity and priests alike look to the church for clarity on moral teaching. When that clarity is muddied, no one profits. Many argue that Pope Francis has sold lucidity and truth in exchange for acceptance from the left-leaning wing of the church, or from the Modern World at large. I fear, however, that it is far too easy for the Right to look at the issue of pastoral care toward same-sex couples without thinking about the real, living human persons in question. As in all things, the church should look primarily to Christ as moral exemplar — above conservative cardinals, and above the pope. Of course, the pope, as Christ’s vicar on earth, has a special duty to bear witness to Christ’s example in his words and deeds. I can confidently say, though, that I prefer the ambiguities of Pope Francis to the decided hedonism of the Borgias or the unquenchable greed of the Medicis.

I will leave things here — I am sure other outlets will offer a sharper condemnation of the pope’s words, as many already have — but readers can rest assured: No, the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church does not support gay marriage.