Decisions must, however, be taken at the individual level
Reinhard Marx, the progressive German Cardinal, waded into controversial ecclesiastical territory when he said homosexual couples could be blessed by the Catholic Church[/tweetit]. In his interview with Bavarian State Broadcasting, a regional radio channel, he was emphatic about the absence of rules in this regard. He advocated that the decision of blessing a same-sex union should be taken by the concerned pastoral worker or priest. Individual cases must be considered before the blessing is provided.
German Cardinal Supports Blessing Same-Sex Marriage[/tweetthis]
When Karin Wendlinger, the interviewer, challenged the Cardinal as to why the Vatican is loath to keep itself updated with a number of issues present in modern society, Wendlinger specifically mentioned female deacons' ordination, Marx replied that the solutions can be found at the pastoral level. There is no specific set of rules to deal with such kind of happenstance. These things, the Cardinal reminded the interviewer, cannot be regulated.
Marx, when asked why he recommends finding the solution and to do the decision making at the individual level, said it is vital to go through the life of that specific person, their life history and their biography. It is important to feel the disruptions the person has suffered and the hopes which arise after those cathartic experiences. The church must take all such factors seriously and try harder to include the same in that person's life circumstances.
The Archbishop of Munich stated that the particular liturgical form which blessings and other varieties of “encouragement” may take constitute a different question. Such queries, Marx warned, need a decision which must be thought over before being taken. This answer led the questioner to ask whether the Cardinal is referring to ways to bless same-sex couples in the Catholic Church. The answer was a positive from Marx's side. The latter emphasized that there cannot be any general solutions.
Blessing same-sex couples remain a controversial issue in the Vatican. Even the present Pope Francis, a seemingly more forward-looking pontiff compared to his predecessors, has fiercely and publicly criticized opposed the legalization of gay marriages in Argentina. This stance was taken when the pope was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Francis even called same-sex marriage “the envy of the devil.” In 2010, the then Cardinal Bergoglio wrote that such a law will destroy the traditional family unit. He said that such laws put the existence of the traditional family in doubt.