(Reuters) – The pinnacle of Ukraine’s eastern-rite Catholic church on Saturday stated a doc endorsed by Pope Francis this week allowing blessings for same-sex {couples} didn’t apply to his church and its teachings.
Main Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk stated the Vatican doc “interprets the pastoral which means of blessings within the Latin Church” however made no reference to points governing the japanese, or Greek Catholic, church.
“Thus … this Declaration applies solely to the Latin Church and has no authorized pressure for the devoted of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,” Shevchuk stated in an announcement.
He stated a blessing couldn’t be separated from the church’s teachings and “can under no circumstances contradict the educating of the Catholic Church concerning the household as a devoted, indissoluble, and fertile union of affection between a person and a lady.”
The eastern-rite church worships in keeping with rites much like the Orthodox religion, however is in communion with Rome by advantage of a sixteenth century settlement. Repression compelled the church underground in Soviet instances and it now has about 4.5 million parishioners, or roughly 10% of the inhabitants of Ukraine.
The doc from the Vatican’s doctrinal workplace stated Roman Catholic clergymen can administer blessings to same-sex {couples} so long as they aren’t a part of common church rituals or liturgies.
It stated such blessings could be an indication that God welcomes all however shouldn’t be confused with the sacrament of heterosexual marriage.
Homosexual rights are making some progress in Ukraine and different ex-Soviet states exterior Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has expressed sympathy for upholding homosexual rights, although ruling out constitutional adjustments to permit single-sex marriages whereas the nation is at struggle.
(This story has been corrected to say ‘same-sex {couples},’ not ‘same-sex marriage,’ within the headline)
(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Enhancing by Chris Reese)
