More of the same “clarification” of the same sex blessing document. He just repeats what the ambiguous document says. It’s blessing persons, not the union.
That was already clear. Persons are being blessed. The union is not. But Fernandez who wrote it already clarified twice the couple itself is being blessed.
The pope does not address the critics objecting to this, except to say the blessing doesn’t bless the union. But he doesn’t correct Fernandez. Therefore, as it stands, it seems clear the couple itself IS being blessed. Somehow the relationship itself is being blessed without blessing the union.
If this conclusion was false, all they would have to say is “the couple as a relationship is not being blessed, ONLY individual persons,” but they are not saying this. The critics are not confused, having poor reading comprehension, or obstinately reading the document in a bad light. The remaining dubia cardinals can write Pope Francis another dubia asking “Is the couple in their relationship at all being blessed, without blessing the sexual union aspect, or only individual persons?”
At this point it is safe to say from the “clarifications” that this document permits two unrepentant homosexual people in a sinful relationship to arrange a public blessing of their relationship (but not the sexual union itself) in the church, not just of the individuals, inviting others, taking pictures, and having a reception afterwards, as a public event. Fernandez didn’t say it must be private or spontaneous, but not in front of the altar. When these blessing events surely start becoming common, the confusion will only multiply.
My tone in this post includes frustration and a feeling of betrayal. We are frustrated and feel betrayed by Pope Francis, and we have a right to those emotions and to express them with our objections to what he is doing. We have a right to clarity from the Holy Father, to a pope clearly upholding the Faith (in particular that gravely sinful irregular relationships in themselves cannot be blessed, even if the sin in the relationship is not blessed), to the pope respecting us when we are sincerely confused by the language of a document, seeing confusion in the document itself. We have a right not to be made out to be ourselves confused people, who haven’t put in the time already to read (multiple times for many people) the document, that is to not be gaslighted by our Holy Father.
We must double our prayers for the pope that he will be converted from any favoring of modernism and liberalism, already condemned as heresies by popes. We must pray he will be humbled to repent from his abuses of Catholics faithful to Tradition, and towards the Faith itself. God can convert him before he dies.