Pope Francis Allows Blessing of Same-Sex Couples in Historic Vatican Policy Change

The new policy, while a significant shift, maintains the Church's stance on marriage and has been met with both praise and criticism from the LGBTQ Catholic community.

Pope Francis has made a historic change to Vatican policy, allowing priests to bless same-sex couples. This policy change has been welcomed by many LGBTQ Catholics who have faced decades of institutional rejection by the church.
The new Vatican policy allows for priests to bless same-sex couples, but it stresses that priests may not bless same-sex relationships themselves. It also reaffirmed that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman, and that same-sex blessings should not be given during civil union ceremonies that could be perceived as a wedding.
Some LGBTQ Catholics have criticized the policy change, saying it does not go far enough and brings old hostilities and pain to the surface. They argue that the Catholic Church needs to take accountability for its historical treatment of LGBTQ people and recognize their marriages, relationships, and families in the same way they do heterosexual people.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the theological watchdog group, has set out a whole theology of what blessing is and why priests can now bless same-sex couples. This is seen as a significant shift in the way the Church looks at same-sex couples.
The new papal declaration is not a directive to Catholic leaders, but extends the opportunity for clergy to bless same-sex couples in certain circumstances. However, it emphasizes that such a blessing should not be performed during a civil union or with clothes or gestures affiliated with a wedding.

The Salt Lake Tribune