Belgian bishops propose prayer for gay upl, not marriage | AP News

Contents:

• BELGIAN BISHOPS PROPOSE PRAYER FOR GAY COUPL, NOT MARRIAGE
• BELGIAN BISHOPS PROPOSE PRAYER FOR GAY UPL, NOT MARRIAGE

BELGIAN BISHOPS PROPOSE PRAYER FOR GAY COUPL, NOT MARRIAGE

The Flemish-speakg bishops of Belgium have thorized a prayer for mted gay upl on the ndn is clear that is not equivalent to a weddg blsg. (CNS photo/Franis Lenoir, Rters)The Flemish-speakg bishops of Belgium have created a prayer lurgy for same-sex upl, part of their effort, they say, to make the church more clive and document, tled “Beg Pastorally Close to Homosexual Persons: For a welg church that exclus no one, ” published on Sept. Members better, so that “those who manift a homosexual orientatn n receive the assistance they need to unrstand and fully rry out God’s will their liv.

” The church teach that gay and lbian people mt be treated wh digny and rpect but nsirs homosexual activy to be morally illic. Scholt said, there will be “an opportuny for homosexual upl to pray together, and others will also be able to pray for them.

By NICOLE WINFIELD and SAMUEL PETREQUIN, Associated PrsROME (AP) — Belgian bishops on Tuday published a proposed text for a prayer lurgy for same-sex upl that clus prayers, Scriptural readgs and exprsns of mment, spe a 2021 Vatin directive barrg church blsgs for gay Flemish-speakg bishops strsed that the “moment of prayer” was by no means ak to a sacramental marriage, which Catholic doctre says is a lifelong unn between a man and woman. Rather, they said their proposal is part of the Belgian church’s effort to be more rponsive to s gay members and to “create a climate of rpect, regnn and tegratn. ” They ced Pope Francis’ ll for the church to be more welg to publitn of the text, first reported by the Dutch newspaper Nerlands Dagblad, marks the latt salvo efforts by more progrsive church to extend greater outreach to gays, led by the German church and s ntroversial “synodal” procs of dialogue wh the German lay.

BELGIAN BISHOPS PROPOSE PRAYER FOR GAY UPL, NOT MARRIAGE

Catholic teachg holds that gays mt be treated wh digny and rpect, but that homosexual acts are “trsilly disorred. He said was part of the Belgian bishops’ cisn to create ntact people wh each dce charge of pastoral re for such “pot of ntacts” created, Scholt said there will be “an opportuny for homosexual upl to pray together, and others will also be able to pray for them.

Roman Catholic bishops om Belgium's Flanrs regn issued a document on Tuday permtg the blsg of same-sex unns - direct ntrast to the Vatin's lg on the document was published on the Bishops' Conference of Belgium webse, and listed a rual which would clu a prayer and a fal "benedictn" ont of upl' fay and emphasised that while such blsgs did not alter the Catholic doctre on "sacramental marriage, " the move would allow the Church to be "pastorally close to homosexual persons" and a "welg [place] that exclus no one. "A gay Catholic, Willy Bombeek, has also been appoted as an addnal staff member for pastoral re of fai to oversee the treatment of fellow LGBTQ+ rponse has yet been issued by the Holy See's prs Catholic Church's posn on same-sex unns was addrsed March 2021, wh the Vatin's doctral office, the Congregatn for the Doctre of the Fah (CDF), lg agast their blsg - a stance that was sharply nmned by the Bishop of Holy See claimed such a posn was "not tend to be a form of unjt discrimatn, but rather a remr of the tth of the lurgil re" of the sacrament of marriage and the blsg associated wh Francis himself has displayed more openns towards the LGBTQ+ muny than his precsors. In July 2013, a mere months after his electn as Pope, he had said that he was no posn to "judge" gay people who "[seek] God and have good will.