Belgian church - where same-sex blessings already exist - welcomes Vatican ruling

Record ID: 1757548

  • Title: Belgian church - where same-sex blessings already exist - welcomes Vatican ruling
  • Date: 19th December 2023
  • Summary: ANTWERP, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 19, 2023) (REUTERS) BISHOP OF ANTWERP, JOHAN BONNY, SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) BISHOP OF ANTWERP, JOHAN BONNY, SAYING: "We here in Flanders, we are quite realistic, and we usually say better late than never. Okay. That's one thing. The text is there. Then things in the church, they change slowly. Now, the change is happening here since over mor
  • Embargoed: 2nd January 2024 16:05
  • Keywords: Catholics LGBT Pope blessing gay marriage
  • Location: ANTWERP AND BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / VATICAN CITY
  • City: ANTWERP AND BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / VATICAN CITY
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Europe,Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA008704419122023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The approval of blessings of same-sex couples by the Vatican will bring the practice out in the open and help fight discrimination, Catholics in Belgium said, where such benedictions have been authorised by the Church hierarchy since last year.
    Monday's landmark ruling - approved by Pope Francis - said that Roman Catholic priests can administer the blessings as long as they are not part of regular Church rituals or liturgies.
    But bishops in Belgium had already issued a document in September 2022 suggesting a prayer and a benediction for same-sex couples recognising what they said was a piecemeal practice to which the Church hierarchy turned a blind eye.
    The bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny, told Reuters in an interview that priests and pastoral workers in his diocese appreciated the blessings being out in the open and that it recognised the already substantial contribution LGBT Catholics made to the Church.
    Gay churchgoer Willy Bombeek, who worked for decades in Catholic education in Belgium without ever feeling he could come out, ran a working group that led to the authorisation of the blessings in the country.
    He said that official word from Rome would be vital in helping to tackle discrimination in more conservative corners of the Church.
    (Production: Christian Levaux, Johnny Cotton)
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