Hungarian Bishop Conference Instructs Priests to ‘Avoid Common Blessing for Couples’

By Madalaine Elhabbal, Catholic Vote, December 27, 2023

CV NEWS FEED // The Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued a stern directive in wake of the controversy generated by the Vatican’s latest declaration on blessings for same-sex couples.

“We celebrated at Christmas the joy that God is with us, is among us and He has invited all people with merciful love to the communion with Him,” the Hungarian bishops said in a statement released to the faithful on Wednesday, December 27.

In the statement, the Hungarian bishops reminded clergy and laypeople that the Vatican’s declaration “does not change the Catholic Church’s belief and perennial teaching on marriage and sexual morality.”

They continued:

Considering the pastoral situation in our country, the Bishops’ Conference specifies that the ordained ministers can bless all people individually, regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation, but they should always avoid common blessing for couples who live together in a non-marital partnership or in a marriage that is not valid in the Church, or who live in a same-sex partnership.

While the Hungarian bishops communicated the importance of accompanying “our brothers and sisters living in special life situations with love and respect,” they emphasised the necessity of “helping them to gain a deeper understanding of God’s will by living according to the Gospel of Christ.”

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