An archbishop in Kazakhstan has become the first cleric to forbid priests from blessing same-sex couples and others in “irregular situations,” according to media reports.
Archbishop Tomasz Bernard Peta of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of St. Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider rejected the new church policy declared by Pope Francis this week and asked the pontiff to rescind it.
Quoting Galatians 2:14, the clerics said Francis “does not walk uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel” in issuing the declaration, titled “Fiducia supplicans.”
Francis on Monday approved the declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to allow clergy to offer blessings for same-sex couples, as long as they are not performed in the context of a civil union or in any way resemble a liturgical wedding ceremony.
Archbishop Peta and Bishop Schneider said priests and laypeople in the archdiocese are prohibited “from accepting or performing any form of blessing whatsoever of couples in an irregular situation and same-sex couples.”
“It goes without saying that every sincerely repentant sinner with the firm intention to no longer sin and to put an end to his public sinful situation (such as, e.g., cohabitation outside of a canonically valid marriage, union between people of the same sex) can receive a blessing,” they added.
Their statement was first reported and translated by The Catholic Herald, an independent magazine in London.
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives World Religion database, 20% of Kazakhstan’s population in 2020 was listed as Christian, with 0.69% being Catholic.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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