A statement signed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in February 2021 reiterated Catholic teaching on marriage and homosexual unions.

The official statement, released on March 15th with the approval of Pope Francis, was in response to a proposed question.

TO THE QUESTION PROPOSED: Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?

RESPONSE:
Negative.

The full statement can be viewed here.

Many Church leaders have spoken out against the document, even though it only states what the Catholic Church has always taught.

The greatest dissent has come from the clergy in Germany.

On May 10th, hundreds of German clergy plan to hold an event called “Love wins, blessing service for lovers.” They plan to bless homosexual couples, in blatant defiance of the Church’s ban on such blessings.

The five-minute video below explains why this act would be damaging for the whole Church.

In response to the planned event, an appeal was issued on May 5th by a cardinal, bishops, priests, and laity throughout the world.

In the “Appeal against the effort to destroy marriage by the german synodal path” Pope Francis is asked to intervene and stop the Church in Germany from going into schism by continuing on its heretical path.

The appeal ends with a call for May 10th “to be an international day of prayer and reparation for all the offenses and sacrilegious actions committed by the deviant Pastors of the German Church, asking for the recitation of the Litany of the Sacred Heart, in public or in private, and, when possible, that the Holy Mass pro remissione peccatorum be offered, as well as Holy Communion in reparation.”

The full text of the appeal is below.

The text and signatories can also be viewed by clicking on the title below.

Please pray for unity within the Catholic Church, especially on this day. Pray that the Church may be One, as the Lord intended and desired from Its beginning.

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Appeal to Rome: Stop the Schism of the German Synodal Path

1. The German Synodal Path, initiated in 2019, has been, during the past two years, fertile ground for the planning and subsequent homogenization of ideas and theories that are blatantly contrary to the immutable and perennial Magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church, founded by the Divine Savior on the solid rock of the Apostles (Mt 16:18). The errors being spread include the declared attack on the Priesthood, both by means of the effort to abolish eccelsiastical celibacy as well as imposing the ordination of women, and also the declared attack on Marriage, intentionally attacking the indissoluble union between a man and a woman and imposing and equating sodomitic unions with the love that Our Lord Jesus Christ has elevated to the dignity of a Sacarament.
2. In this regard, the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines that “the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring” (1601).
3. To the contrary, the German clergy, beginning with the hierarchy, with few exceptions, scandalously departing from the constant teaching of the Church, suggest, among other things, the demolition of Marriage, since they have announced that on 10 May there will be a day of “blessing” for all lovers, including, as expected, homosexual lovers, in clear contempt of the Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 22 February 2021 to a dubium on the blessing of same-sex couples. In the Vatican document, published in many languages, one reads that “it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable ones, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex,” restating that “the Church […] does not and cannot bless sin.” It is reported that there are already more than 2500 priests, deacons, and other pastoral agents associated with this initiative, which demonstrates a manifest aversion to the Tradition of the Church and to the norms she stipulates.
4. According to the Code of Canon Law, schism is defined as “the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him” (c. 751) thus incurring excommunication latae sententiae on all those who promote it. All this makes one think that the German Synodal Way is daily tending towards becoming a step towards declared schism and heresy.
5. Concerned about this sad situation, we Pastors of the Catholic Church and faithful laity committed to the defense of the Truth of the Faith, ask the Holy Father to take the necessary measures to put an end to these drifts of the German Synodal Path and, if necessary, to apply the appropriate canonical sanctions against the promoters of this tremendous deviation from both doctrine and communion with the Keys of Peter.
6. On the other hand, we call for the same day 10 May to be an international day of prayer and reparation for all the offenses and sacrilegious actions committed by the deviant Pastors of the German Church, asking for the recitation of the Litany of the Sacred Heart, in public or in private, and, when possible, that the Holy Mass pro remissione peccatorum be offered, as well as Holy Communion in reparation.

5 May 2021
S. Pii V Papæ et Conf.

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Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!

St. Joseph, Protector of the Holy Church, pray for us!