Benedict Would Have Banned Same-Sex Blessings, Aide Says on Anniversary
The Vatican marked the first anniversary on Sunday of the death of Pope
Benedict XVI, with one of his closest aides saying he never would have
approved a recent declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless
same-sex couples.
Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, who was the Church's doctrinal chief under
Benedict, and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who was Benedict's private
secretary, both German, were two headliners at an event marking the
anniversary and organized by the conservative U.S.-based Catholic
television network EWTN.
"It never would have happened (under Benedict) because it was so
ambiguous," Mueller said on the sidelines of the event when asked by
Reuters about the landmark declaration issued on Dec. 18.
While the December declaration says such blessings cannot resemble the
sacrament of matrimony between a man and a woman and cannot be part of
rituals or liturgies, some advocates of more inclusion of LGBT people
saw it as a possible precursor of same-sex marriage in the Church.
"There is no homosexual matrimony. It does not exist, it cannot exist,
despite ideologies we have (today)," said Mueller, whom Francis removed
as head of the Vatican's doctrinal department after Benedict resigned in
2013.
Francis briefly noted the anniversary in his Sunday blessing to crowds
in St. Peter's Square, saying Benedict had "served the Church with love
and wisdom" and that he "We feel so much affection, so much gratitude,
so much admiration for him."
Francis then asked the crowd for a round of applause for Benedict, who
was the first pope in 700 years to step down instead of rule for life.
Mueller said that while his personal relationship with Francis is "very
good" he does not hesitate to disagree with him in public on doctrinal
issues because "we are not in the Soviet Union where only one leader has
a say."
Mueller said "the best thing we can do for the pope is always to be
close to the Catholic truth and faith and not to be here as adulators."
Earlier in St. Peter's Basilica, Gaenswein, Benedict's secretary, said a
memorial Mass for Benedict. Gaenswein's voice broke twice with emotion
while reading his homily.
Benedict's shock resignation divided the Church, with many saying he should not have stepped down.
His 10 years living in the Vatican as "pope emeritus" widened the
conservative-progressive divide, with some diehard traditionalists not
recognizing Francis as leader.
"I think many polemics will be forgotten," Gaenswein said on the
sidelines of the television event. "What remains is the substance, and
(as for) the substance of his papacy, history will judge."
Gaenswein, who Francis dispatched back to Germany after Benedict died,
said that when Benedict decided to resign, the former pope was convinced
he had at most a year left to live.
"I pray he will be a saint. I wish he will be a saint. And I am convinced he will be a saint," he said.
