The Catholic Church announced that its priests in Meghalaya will be allowed to bless same-sex couples sans any marriage rites.
Shillong: Catholic priests in Meghalaya can bless same-sex couples, however, marriage rites for homosexual couples are still not allowed, the Catholic Church announced Saturday. The Catholic Church’s announcement comes days after Pope Francis approved blessings for such couples.
On Saturday, the Catholic Church announced that its priests will be allowed to bless same-sex couples sans any marriage rites. The declaration brought about major changes in the Catholic Church organisation in the northeastern state with over 10 lakh population.
“The Catholic Church issued the declaration ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ approved by Pope Francis. With this, it will be possible for a Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples but without any type of ritual of the Church that resembles a marriage rite,” Archbishop of Shillong, Victor Lyngdoh said in statement on Friday.
“This is a spontaneous prayer of a priest with informal words. The blessing does not signify approval of the union. The declaration stresses on the pastoral meaning of blessings,” he stated.
Emphasising that this should not be mistaken as the official liturgical and ritual blessings of the Church during marriage, the Archbishop said.
SC refuses to legalise same-sex marriages
Earlier, in October this year, the Supreme Court refused to legalise gay marriages in India. A Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha delivered the verdict it had reserved on May 11 this year.
The court, however, said the judgement will not preclude the right of Queer persons to enter into relationships. The apex court also said that the challenge to Special Marriage Act (SMA) on the ground of under-classification is not made out.
Justice Ravindra Bhat, Justice Narasimha and Justice Hima Kohli were in agreement on these positions, while CJI Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul took divergent positions.
‘Govt must ensure equal rights for Queers’
In his judgement the CJI passed directions that the Union government and State governments must ensure there is no discrimination against the Queer community. The CJI said it should be ensured that there is no discrimination in access to goods and services to the queer community.
“There is a need to sensitise public about queer rights. The Union and state Governments must create a hotline for queer community to prevent harassment. The government must create safe houses for queer couple. Government also must ensure inter-sex children are not forced to undergo operations,” the CJI said.
The CJI said that it should be ensured that no person shall be forced to undergo any hormonal therapy. There shall be no harassment to queer community by summoning them to police station solely to enquire about their sexual identity.
The CJI directed the Union Government to constitute a committee to decide the rights and entitlements of persons in queer unions.
The Constitution bench had begun the hearing on the matter on April 18 and the hearing went on for nearly 10 days. The court had clarified that it will deal with the issue under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act and will not touch the personal laws on this aspect.
The Centre has opposed the plea and said that parliament and not the court, should consider the issue.
The Centre called it an Urban elite concept but the court did not agree. During the hearing the Centre had agreed to examine issues relating to giving some certain rights to LGBTQIA + but opposed legal recognition to same-sex couples.
(With inputs from agencies)