Pope Francis Doubles Down Amid Catholic Backlash

Pope Francis slammed critics of his views on giving blessings to same-sex couples, saying they are hypocritical.

The pontiff said that it was a "hypocrisy" that people do not object to him giving a "blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people," describing that as a "serious sin, in an extracts published from and interview with Italian magazine Credere. He said people are "scandalized" if he blesses someone who is a homosexual.

The comments come after a document known Fiducia Supplicans was released in December. Essentially, it outlines that priests can give out blessings to couples who are in "irregular situations," including same-sex couples.

"The heart of the document is welcome," the pope also said, according to a report in Vatican News, which published extracts of the interview ahead of its publication in Credere on February 7. He still does not bless "homosexual marriage" but does bless "two people who love each other," according to comments reported in Credere.

Some of the reaction to the pope's comments online appear to contest his comments.

One person said people "already have access to a blessing," on X, formerly Twitter. "By carving them out for this he's the one causing the issues. Not the people who see this for the slippery slope it is."

Another added that the argument was becoming "silly," suggesting that the pope's comments were over the top.

"Of course no one is scandalized by offering a blessing to a sinner of any stripe," they said. "But I trust that most priests would not explicitly bless the act of exploitation itself. That would, indeed, be scandalous."

One person wrote: "No one is saying you can't bless a homosexual. YOU CANNOT BLESS THEIR SINFUL UNION!"

Newsweek has reached out to the press office of the Holy See for comment by email.

Some of the backlash to Fiducia Supplicans has come from the U.S., and those who have already spoken include Bishop Joseph Strickland, an American hardliner. Strickland was removed from his role as the bishop of Tyler, an area covering eastern Texas, in November.

"We really simply need to be a united voice saying, 'no, we will not respond to this, we will not incorporate this into the life of the church,' because we simply must say no," Strickland told LifeSiteNews.

An open letter criticizing the doctrine was also published on LifeSiteNews.com, saying no document from "the Roman Magisterium experienced such a strong rejection." More than 90 people have signed the letter.

LifeSiteNews is a media outlet dedicated to promoting "the great importance to society of traditional Judeo-Christian moral principles." Editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen was one of the letter's signatories.

"A blessing as such, in the universal language of humanity, always implies an approval of what is being blessed," the signatories wrote.

It added that the latest doctrine "contradicts traditional doctrine," and signatories include Reverand Robert Sirico, president of the Catholic St. John Henry Newman Institute in Michigan, and Gil Bailie, a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez was one of two authors of Fiducia Supplicans, appointed as the pope's doctrine official in July last year.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who previously served as a Vatican ambassador to the U.S., called for the arrest of the pope and Fernandez in January after a book published by the latter resurfaced.

Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality was written in 1998 and reportedly includes descriptions of how people can become closer to God during orgasm.

"The Swiss Guards have sworn to defend the See of Peter, not the one who is systematically demolishing it," Viganò said on X. "Let them therefore be faithful to their oath and arrest these heretical perverts!"

On January 8, Fernandez told Catholic website Crux it was not a book he would write now.

Previously, Pope Francis said some members of the Catholic Church in the U.S. showed "backwardness" in their views.

He said there was "a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude" among Catholics in the U.S. during a private meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, on August 5 last year.

The remarks were published by Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, which is vetted by the Vatican secretariat of state.

The comments to Credere were not the first time the pope has appeared to double down following the release of Fiducia Supplicans on December 18. Three days later, he said in his annual speech to the Curia—all Cardinals based in Rome are invited to this event—that the Church should avoid "rigid ideological positions" that "prevent us from moving forward."