CHICAGO (LifeSiteNews) — A Chicago priest’s “blessing” of two lesbians’ relationship stands as alarming evidence that the “blessing” of “irregular couples” endorsed by Fiducia Supplicans, despite protestations from the Vatican, may well be nothing more than an incremental step toward homosexual “marriages” eventually being treated as a sacrament.
Described by OSV News as having been done in a format that “approximates a renewal of wedding vows,” Father Joseph S. Williams, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Cardinal Blase Cupich’s Archdiocese of Chicago, asked the women as they stood not far from the altar, facing each other, holding hands, “Do you freely recommit yourselves to love each other as holy spouses?”
READ: Homosexual couple gives ‘Gospel reflection’ at Chicago parish Mass
“We do, I do,” replied the lesbians, Kelli Beard and Myah Knight.
“Loving God, increase and consecrate the love which Kelli and Myah have for one another,” said Williams, dressed in an alb and a stole.
“The rings that they have exchanged are the sign of their fidelity and commitment,” stated Williams. “May they continue to prosper in your grace and blessing. We ask this through Christ our Lord.”
“May God’s blessing be yours, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” said the priest while making the Sign of the Cross over the lesbian “couple,” who also crossed themselves.
READ: Cardinal Müller: Fiducia Supplicans ‘leads to heresy,’ Catholics cannot accept it
The Catholic Church has always taught that homosexuality is a grave sin and intrinsically disordered, in accordance with Sacred Scripture and the natural law. People in homosexual relationships cannot be said to “love each other,” as love means “to will the good of another,” in the words of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Moreover, Williams’ invocation of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Trinity is a grave act of blasphemy that misuses God’s Name to endorse sodomy, a sin that “cries out to heaven for vengeance.” His misuse of the church and sacred objects for the scandalous homosexual “blessing” is sacrilege.
Kelli Beard, who posted the video of the “blessing” on her Instagram account on April 22, is a Methodist minister. In the caption, she wrote, “Myah always wanted to get married at the chapel of her Alma mater, so I surprised her with a blessing of our marriage! [sic]”
Myah Knight is a professional counselor who describes herself as a “QTBIPOC person,” i.e., a “queer, trans, black, indigenous person of color,” who focuses on “navigating sexual and gender identity.” In 2022, she launched a so-called “religious trauma support group” for “Queer folx.”
READ: Cdl. Cupich to celebrate Mass for pro-LGBT group that dissents from Church teaching
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Williams told OSV News that his understanding of Fiducia Supplicans is “that the Holy Father said that same-sex couples can be blessed as long as it does not reflect a marriage situation… as long as it’s clear that it’s not a marriage.”
However, judging by the video of the brief ceremony, it is far from apparent that this did “not reflect a marriage situation.” On the contrary, the “blessing” mirrored a wedding ceremony, with the priest, wearing liturgical vestments, referring to the two women as “spouses.”
Beard, in her Instagram video post, added a string of telling hashtags, including: “#catholic blessings,” “#same sex wedding,” and “#same sex marriage.”
READ: Vatican-approved ‘blessing’ ceremony for ‘married’ homosexuals sparks outrage in Uruguay
“This wasn’t just a blessing,” insisted Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute. “It was an officiating over an exchange of vows of sodomitical fidelity.”
“If this is NOT punished, then we must assume it is the intended effect of the document,” he added.
In any case, “blessing” a homosexual “couple” necessarily approves their sodomitic relationship – the basis for them being a “couple” – in contradiction to Catholic teaching. Numerous bishops’ conferences have repudiated Fiducia Supplicans, and prominent prelates and theologians, including Cardinal Robert Sarah and Father Gerald Murray, have condemned the document for containing heresy.
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