Cardinal Sarah: Paper on gay blessing jeopardises the unity of the Church

Emeritus Curia Cardinal Robert Sarah (80), who comes from West Africa, hopes for a reassessment of the Vatican paper on the blessing of homosexual couples under Pope Leo XIV. In an interview published on Friday in the daily newspaper "Avvenire", Sarah said: "The declaration is theologically weak and therefore unjustified. It jeopardises the unity of the Church. It is a document that should be forgotten."

In December 2023, under Pope Francis, the Vatican's authority on the faith published a document entitled "Fiducia supplicans", in which the ecclesial blessing of people in same-sex partnerships was authorised for the first time. The text was heavily criticised, particularly by the Catholic bishops of Africa.

In the interview, in which he formulated his expectations of the new Pope, Sarah also called for "ideological" thinking in the Church to be overcome. In this context, he criticised efforts "to deny the Church's tradition in the name of an unconditional opening and adaptation to the world and its criteria". (KNA)