VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A Vatican declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples sent shock waves around the world when it was released on Monday (Dec. 18) and deepened an already strong divide between conservatives and progressives in the church.

The document, “Fiducia Supplicans,” issued by the Dicastery on the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope Francis, explicitly states that it made no changes to Catholic teaching on marriage or sexuality, and in fact sets limitations on the blessings for couples considered “irregular” in the church, including same-sex couples as well as unmarried or remarried couples.

But advocates for LGBTQ inclusion in the church have praised the declaration as an unprecedented opening.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and founder of Outreach, an online resource to promote the welcoming of LGBTQ people in the Catholic Church, described the document as a “major step forward” that “recognizes the deep desire in many Catholic same-sex couples for God’s presence in their loving relationships.”

In an email on Monday, Martin said that the declaration signified a “dramatic shift” for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in March 2021 banned the blessing of same-sex couples, saying that God “cannot bless sin.”

The Rev. James Martin at the Vatican in a scene from the documentary “Building a Bridge.” (Photo courtesy of “Building a Bridge”)

“This new declaration opens the door to non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, something that had been previously off limits for bishops, priests and deacons,” Martin said, adding that “As many priests will, I will be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions.”

The pope signaled an opening to the possibility of blessing same-sex couples in October in his answers to questions posed by a group of conservative prelates on divisive issues in the church. But while Monday’s step does not create a ceremony to validate gay unions in the church’s eyes, it is a step that few could foresee just months ago.

New Ways Ministry, a network dedicated to the promotion of LGBTQ Catholics in the church, also praised the decision, describing it as “an early Christmas gift.”

“It cannot be overstated how significant the Vatican’s new declaration is,” said Francis DeBernardo, the organization’s executive director, in a statement on Monday. DeBernardo underscored that the document states that those seeking the blessing must not be subjected to an interrogation regarding their morality or personal lives.

“Such a declaration is one more step Pope Francis has taken to overturn the harsh policing of pastoral care all too common under his predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI,” the statement read.

Members of New Ways Ministry met with Pope Francis in a private audience in October and claimed that the declaration echoed the pastoral approach displayed by the pontiff at the time. “This declaration is proof that church teaching can — and does — change,” the statement read.

Other Catholic organizations cautioned that the road to fully welcoming same-sex couples remains long. In the United Kingdom, the LGBT+ Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council, created by the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said in a statement that “Fiducia Supplicans” is “a small step towards the radical inclusion of LGBT+ people of God.”

The group said that, given the widespread Catholic practice of blessing “a vast range of inanimate objects ranging from homes, offices and vehicles, even machines of war, as well as to beloved pets and other animals,” the Vatican’s shift on the subject took “far too long.”

Pope Francis, sitting at right, participates in the opening session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2023. Francis convened a global gathering of bishops and laypeople to discuss the future of the Catholic Church, including some hot-button issues that have previously been considered off the table for discussion. Key agenda items included women’s role in the church, welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics, and how bishops exercise authority. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

In October, at the first meeting of a global consultation of bishops and lay Catholics called the Synod on Synodality, questions of LGBTQ welcoming, the ordination of women and the possibility of allowing married priests were all on the agenda, though its report made no firm recommendation about blessings of gay couples.

The German church, which recently concluded its own exploration of some of these same issues under the rubric of the Synodal Path, has allowed and performed blessings of same-sex couples for years. “It turns out that theological honesty and a sense of faith are important milestones on the way to changing the Church. Mere obedience to prohibitions is not Catholic,” said the president of the lay Central Committee of German Catholics, Irme Stetter-Karp, in a statement on Monday.

But conservative factions in the church have strongly opposed the practice and spoke out against the Vatican’s recent pronouncement.

“I ask my brother bishops that we all join in a voice of strength and joy in the Lord in these last days of Advent and say no to this latest document and ask for a clarification of the true teaching of the Catholic faith,” said Bishop Joseph Strickland, who was recently removed as head of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, due to his open criticism of Francis’ pontificate, in an interview with the conservative Catholic media outlet Lifesite News.

Another U.S. critic of Francis, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, emphasized in a statement that the document does not change church teaching on the question of homosexuality, which is considered a sin according to Catholic doctrine, and he urged faithful to “read the Vatican declaration closely.”

This roughly echoed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which sought to clarify that the recent Vatican declaration does signify a doctrinal shift, but added that “this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.”

Other dioceses were outspoken in opposition. The Diocese of Astana, Kazakhstan, issued guidance on Tuesday prohibiting any priest from performing the blessing of same-sex couples, calling the Vatican declaration a “great deception.”

Bishops in Malawi also banned the practice “to avoid creating confusion among the faithful,” in a clarification published Tuesday. The initial regional responses after the announcement highlight the possibility of a varied approach based on cultural and national sensibilities.