Italy: Pope marries couples who are ‘living in sin’, but no gays
The Pope has celebrated “forgiveness” by performing 20 marriages for couples who live outside the Catholic doctrine – but unsurprisingly, none of them were gay.
The PR stunt, which took place today in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, saw the religious leader bless couples who would usually be denied a Catholic wedding – some of whom had children out of wedlock, or were already living together.
The couples, all from the Rome area, also included a woman who had her previous marriage annulled, but no divorced or gay couples were invited.
One couple said: “We’ve known each other for five years and our wanting to get married in the church stems from no longer wanting to live in a union and with feelings that are deprived of some of the sacraments.”
It is thought to be the first papal wedding performed since 2000, and comes ahead of next month’s much-hyped ‘extraordinary’ assembly of Bishops, where the church is expected to reaffirm its strong opposition to homosexuality.
The meeting of bishops will look at the results of a global survey on attitudes to family and relationships – but despite spin from the church, there have been no tangible public proposals to actually take a softer approach to any of the issues.
