Thank you for writing about this. I have to say I'm not totally convinced that, as you write, the document "seems to admit that not just the individual persons in a same-sex relationship, but the relationship itself, can be blessed by the Church." I just didn't find anything in the text that indicated that, except perhaps by extrapolation.
I think it's fair to say that insofar as a relationship is part of a person's life, a blessing of this kind could provide actual grace for living that relationship in a way consistent with God's design. But still, this is distinct from blessing the relationship per se, which it seems to me was ruled out by the CDF in 2021. The fact that this document is focused on the theology of blessings is still really important because, as you point out, it has tremendous pastoral implications.
Thank you for writing about this. I have to say I'm not totally convinced that, as you write, the document "seems to admit that not just the individual persons in a same-sex relationship, but the relationship itself, can be blessed by the Church." I just didn't find anything in the text that indicated that, except perhaps by extrapolation.
I think it's fair to say that insofar as a relationship is part of a person's life, a blessing of this kind could provide actual grace for living that relationship in a way consistent with God's design. But still, this is distinct from blessing the relationship per se, which it seems to me was ruled out by the CDF in 2021. The fact that this document is focused on the theology of blessings is still really important because, as you point out, it has tremendous pastoral implications.