Catholic Church tries to explain what same-sex blessings are and are not
Revisiting a church that isn’t oppressive to LGBTQ people: Bishop Chris Ponnet’s impact on the Los Angeles archdiocese
“I’m not seeking the blessing of a church that is oppressive to LGBTQ people,” he says. I’m looking to change the church I was raised in.
A few years ago, the partner and his partner of 14 years visited family in Mexico. While there, a priest — who’s a longtime friend — surprised the couple.
Ponnet encourages people in the LA archdiocese who are not willing to do one of these blessings to refer them to him to find a priest who will.
It’s important to know exactly what priests are blessing and what they aren’t. “We’re not blessing the relationship,” he says. “We’re blessing the individuals in front of us. I do not know how to get around the pain caused by that.
Ponnet, who is the archdiocese’s chaplain to its gay and lesbian ministry, says he always declines to attend the civil weddings of same-sex couples he knows because he doesn’t want there to be any confusion. The church does not condone or recognize such marriages, and he believes that his presence could lead people to think it’s ok.
Modifications are not what the blessings are about. And the job of Father Chris Ponnet in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is to help both priests and parishioners understand them.
Progress, Cappiello says, not just for Catholics in same-sex relationships themselves, “but for family members, particularly parents who may be experiencing this terrible tension and conflict between what their church is teaching them and what their heart is telling them about their child who is in a loving partnership.”
López and Guzmán live in suburban LA and regularly attend Saturday evening Mass with the LGBTQ+ Catholic group Dignity. People gathering for prayer, worship and communion.
“He was a friend of the family but he also represents the church,” Guzmn says, noting that it was a great endorsement.
Lpez remembers the priest telling them to take care of each other. “And at that point he actually asked us to kneel in front of him and gave us a blessing.”
