VIENNA, AUSTRIA - Gay couples in Vienna were unsure whether Tuesday was St. Valentine's Day or April Fool's after state radio announced the Catholic Church would bless their unions and an Austrian priest had to deny any such plan.ORF radio reported at the weekend that a priest at St. Stephen's Cathedral, in the heart of the Austrian capital, would say a Mass on the traditional day for lovers and bless all couples, married or not, straight or gay.
"All who want God's blessing for their relationship are welcome," it quoted Rev. Toni Faber as saying.
Or maybe not. The Catholic Church rejects homosexual sex as a sin and sex outside marriage is forbidden. Dispensing Catholic blessings for gay couples in one of Europe's great cathedrals would be an act of rebellion against the Vatican.
"This will not be a Mass, but only a service with blessings afterwards for all lovers, whether they are married or engaged," Faber told Catholic news agency Kath.net to clarify himself.
Individual gays could get a blessing, he said, but stressed that their union would not get the Church's approval. "To avoid any misunderstandings, we should stress the difference between blessing couples and blessing individuals," he said.
Austria's Catholic bishops drew up new guidelines for St. Valentine's Day blessings last year that made way for individual blessings but said nothing about homosexuals.
from Reuters
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