Pope cites “hypocrisy” of those who criticize blessings for LGBT couples

Pope Francis has said he sees “hypocrisy” in criticism of his decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, possibly his strongest defense of the measure.

LGBT blessings were authorized last month by a Vatican document called Fiducia Supplicans (Suppliant Trust), but it has met with significant resistance in the Catholic Church, especially from African bishops.

“No one will be shocked if I give my blessing to a businessman who may exploit people, and that is a very serious sin. But they are scandalized if I give them to a homosexual,” Francis told the Italian Catholic magazine Credere.

“This is hypocrisy,” he added.

Credere released excerpts of the interview on Wednesday (7), one day before its publication.

Francisco, who famously said “Who am I to judge?” When asked about homosexuality early in his papacy, he made it one of his missions to promote a more welcoming and less critical Catholic Church.

Conservatives say this risks undermining the Church's moral teachings.

Francis has defended Fiducia Supplicans on several occasions but acknowledged resistance against it, saying, for example, that the blessings do not equate to the Church's formal approval of same-sex unions.

“When a couple comes forward spontaneously to request it, the union is not blessed, but simply the people who requested it together. Not the union, but the people,” he said on January 26.

The Catholic Church teaches that gay sex is sinful, and that people with same-sex attractions, who are not considered sinful, should try to be chaste.

In another interview, Francis said he hoped critics of LGBT blessings would eventually understand them, but that Africans were a “special case” in their opposition to homosexuality.

The bishops of Africa effectively rejected the Fiducia Supplicans. In some African countries, homosexuality is severely punished, with prison sentences or even the death penalty.