(AmericanProsperity.com) – According to a Newsmax December 18 report, Roman Catholics have shown mixed reactions after Pope Francis gave his formal approval for Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples. While some said that what the pope did was “shocking” and “confusing,” others claimed that the mainstream media distorted what he actually approved.
As noted in a new Vatican official document, priests can now bless homosexual couples as long as it doesn’t get confused with the sacrament of marriage ritual. The document also reinforces that any blessing can’t be conferred simultaneously as a civil union, and points out that the Catholic priest is not allowed to use gestures that signal a wedding or even wear ceremonial clothes. The document also reaffirms that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
In his Twitter account, religious and political commentator Erick Erickson said that “The Devil loves ambiguity” and claimed that the Pope provided him “just that” with the document that the Vatican published. He pointed out that while the document doesn’t bless same-sex unions, it does something similar.
Many other Catholic Twitter users expressed their shock and disagreement with the newest marriage blessing by claiming that the Pope was wrong, and noting that “God’s mercy” doesn’t need any “exhaustive moral analysis.” Some said that all Catholics should pray “hard” for Pope Francis’ papacy to end as soon as possible so the “blasphemy” can be stopped. Many others claimed that what Pope Francis did was the equivalent of seeing the Vatican fall.
Meanwhile, HotAir Managing Editor Brain Morrisey blasted the mainstream media headlines that said that Pope Francis approved the blessing of homosexual unions, as he said “This isn’t what happened.” He added that many journalists failed to “read a document” and fully understand the debate’s “context.”
Townhall’s Larry O’Connor expressed the same idea, as he said that the claim that Pope Francis reversed the Catholic Church’s doctrine on same-sex acts is “just a lie” that many people on social media are deliberately spreading.
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