How Mumbai’s LGBT+ community reacted to The Vatican's same-sex marriage stance
Updated On: 02 June, 2022 05:09 PM IST | Mumbai | Nascimento Pinto
The Vatican statement said the Catholic Church could not bless same-sex unions as it cannot ‘bless sin’; less than a month ago, the Indian government told the Delhi High Court, “In India, marriage is a bond between a biological man and a biological woman”, despite the Supreme Court decriminalising gay sex in 2018
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_d.jpg "How Mumbai’s LGBT+ community reacted to The Vatican's same-sex marriage stance")
A person waves a flag representing the LGBTQIA+ community at a parade. Photo: istock
The Vatican said this week in an official note that the Catholic Church could not bless same-sex marriage because it cannot “bless sin”. The statement was issued by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and approved by Pope Francis, according to an AP report. The statement said: “God does not and cannot bless sin: He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him.”
In India, on September 6, 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court decriminalised consensual same-sex relationships by reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. But a little less than a month ago, in the context of gay marriage, the government of India told the Delhi High Court that living together as same-sex partners was not comparable to the Indian concept of a family unit. In its statement, the government said, “In India, marriage is a bond between a biological man and a biological woman.” It said in the landmark 2018 judgment, the Supreme Court decriminalised Section 377, but said that it has only decriminalised “a particular human behaviour”, but “neither intended to, nor did in fact, legitimise the human conduct in question”.
However, The Vatican’s two-page statement, which was released on Monday, has upset members of Mumbai’s LGBTQIA+ community. Mid-day.com reached out to them for their views on the development.
City-based stand-up comedian Navin Noronha expressed his frustration with the Church’s decision. He said he was a practising Catholic till 2014, but walked away from the Church and is now an atheist. Noronha says he has been “actively speaking against the Church in his comedy or writings because its views are archaic, and women and queer people don’t feel comfortable with them”.
Reacting to the Vatican’s statement, Noronha said, “I feel there has been a weird holding back by the Catholic Church. When the new pope was chosen, I always deep down knew that the posturing was going to run out sooner or later.” He adds that there has been a two-fold agenda since the new pope was elected, which was: “How do we appeal to younger people? So let’s say gay people are cool and welcome in the Church, but now when it is about officialising same-sex weddings, it is not possible”.
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