(File photo)
MANILA – Prelates in the country on Tuesday supported the Church's decision that it will not bless same-sex unions.
“We are just affirming the teaching of the Church regarding marriage. It is the union of man and woman,” said Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco in an interview.
Meanwhile, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Permanent Committee on Public Affairs (CBCP-PCPA) executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said priests are not expected to bless same-sex couples.
“Same-sex relationships are not permitted by the church. So, it's simply logical that priests are not supposed to give blessings to same-sex unions,” he said.
Secillano said doing so will make it appear that the Church recognizes same-sex unions.
On Monday, the Vatican's top doctrine office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, said the Church will not bless same-sex unions citing that God "does not and cannot bless sin".
"Furthermore, since blessings on persons are in relationship with the sacraments, the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit. This is because they would constitute a certain imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing invoked on the man and woman united in the sacrament of Matrimony, while in fact 'there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family'," it said. (PNA)
