Pope Francis was already shaking up the accepted norms of the Vatican and the global Roman Catholic church when, in 2013, he delivered five words that gave hope of acceptance to LGBT+ Christians around the world.
While aboard the papal plane returning to Rome from Brazil he said in response to a reporter’s question about homosexuality: “Who am I to judge?”
Francis was only four months into his papacy at the time but, from the very start, he had signalled a new approach. Spurning the opulence, pomp and deference traditionally accorded to popes, he pledged to lead a “church of the poor for the poor” that advocated for the marginalised and oppressed.
Some mistakenly believed or hoped that Francis would overturn centuries of doctrine. Women would become Catholic priests, abortion would be permitted and same-sex couples would be allowed church weddings.
None of those were ever on the cards. But more than 10 years after uttering those encouraging words, “Who am I to judge?”, Francis has now authorised a highly significant step in opening the door for priests to bless same sex couples.
Priests “should not prevent or prohibit the church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing”, said a landmark ruling from the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
However, it added, such blessings should not offer “the impression of a marriage”. The Catholic doctrine regarding marriage – that it is an indissoluble union of a man and a woman – “does not change, and the blessing does not signify approval of the union”.
Some campaigners will look at the caveats attached to the move and pronounce it a disappointment. But others will view it as a strong message of inclusivity and pastoral care to the LGBT+ Christians – and a signal to conservatives within the church that a hardline stance on LGBT+ issues is no longer acceptable.
Another sign of change came last month when the Vatican said that transgender people could, under certain circumstances, be baptised in the Catholic church and serve as godparents. That statement – which also came with caveats – was hailed as a “major step for trans inclusion”.
Pope Francis, who turned 87 on Sunday and is almost at the end of a year marked by ill-health including spells in hospital, appears to be moving swiftly to secure his legacy against the machinations of those who seek to undermine his reforms and his vision.
A few weeks ago, he stripped a retired cardinal, Raymond Burke, one of his most vociferous opponents, of his stipend and rent-free Vatican apartment. Burke, an American, has openly challenged Francis and his reforms, joining other conservatives in issuing “dubia”, or formal questions, seeking clarification on issues such as divorced and remarried Catholics and same-sex unions.
A few weeks before that, Francis forcibly removed another opponent, Joseph Strickland, as bishop of Tyler, in Texas, after a Vatican investigation into the governance of his diocese.
Other conservatives and traditionalists within the church hierarchy may be wondering who, or what, is next.
