Same sex union is not marriage.
Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos said this as he stressed that marriage is between a man and a woman.
(CBCP / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
"Same sex unions are not sacraments, not sacred. It is not marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman," he said in an interview Tuesday, March 16.
"Marriage is one of the seven sacraments. Sacraments confer grace and instituted by Christ. Same sex unions are not of these all, and contrary to Church teachings," added Santos.
He then backed the statement of the Vatican that priests cannot bless same sex unions.
"It is right and just that any priest should not bless same sex unions," said Santos.
"There are no blessings, no grace with same sex unions," he added..
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith on Monday said "it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage, as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex."
"Furthermore, since blessings on persons are in relationship with the sacraments, the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit. This is because they would constitute a certain imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing invoked on the man and woman united in the sacrament of Matrimony, while in fact 'there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family," read their Explanatory Note.
"The declaration of the unlawfulness of blessings of unions between persons of the same sex is not therefore, and is not intended to be, a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite and of the very nature of the sacramentals, as the Church understands them," it further read.