(LifeSiteNews) — A group of German Catholic priests has issued a statement condemning the Vatican’s controversial document on the “blessing” of homosexual “couples.”
“Sin cannot be blessed – that would be a misuse of God’s most holy name,” the priest group called Communio Veritatis wrote in its statement, declaring that “We will therefore never perform blasphemous blessings that are in blatant contradiction to the order of creation and divine revelation.”
The group, led by Fr. Frank Unterhalt, referred to the Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans as “a sophistical maneuver” to introduce “blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.”
“The euphemism ‘couples in irregular situations’ refers to sexual unions outside of marriage valid before God,” the priests stated. “As a grave sin, such acts constitute a serious act against the Sixth Commandment and profoundly defile the human being.”
“Based on the clear biblical message, the constant Magisterium of the Catholic Church has always declared that homosexual practices are among the grave sins that immensely violate chastity (cf. CCC 2396) and are vehemently rejected by Sacred Scripture (cf. Gen 19:1-29; Lev 18:22; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Tim 1:10).”
READ: FULL LIST: Where do bishops stand on blessings for homosexual couples?
“The Catechism reminds us that the guilt of the Sodomites is a sin that ‘cries to heaven’ (cf. CCC 1867).”
“In her famous work A Conversation with God on Living Your Spiritual Life to the Fullest, St. Catherine of Siena testifies to the extent to which the Lord condemns homosexual acts:
‘The wretched do even worse things and commit the accursed sin against nature. And like blind fools whose reason is clouded, they do not realize the rottenness and misery in which they are mired. It is disgusting not only to Me, Who am supreme eternal purity (indeed, so disgusting that I destroyed five cities by My divine judgment for the sake of this one sin, because My justice would no longer endure it), but even to the demons.'”
READ: German priest compares Synod to Communist revolution, links it to Fatima message of ‘great apostasy’
“There can be no contradiction between doctrine and pastoral care in the Catholic faith,” the statement continued. “Real mercy is always linked to the truth. It does not hypocritically confirm people in their guilty situation, but tries to lead them to repentance for the sake of eternal salvation – from the death of sin to the life of grace.”
The German group Communio Veritatis joins a growing number of Catholics who have openly rejected the Vatican’s Fiducia Supplicans declaration published on December 18, including most African bishops.
A group of hundreds of U.K. priests have recently issued a position paper declaring that any “blessings” of homosexual “couples” “are pastorally and practically inadmissible.”