Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/495652
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 APRIL 2015 News TIM DIACONO CHURCH practice does not per- mit the ritual blessing of gay en- gagements, a Curia spokesperson said. "In terms of Church practice and discipline, the ritual blessing of engagement and wedding rings, and of engagement promises and marriage consent, is only allowed for engagements and marriages between a man and a woman," a Curia spokesperson told the Times of Malta. Earlier, Archbishop Charles Scicluna met Dominican friar Fr Mark Montebello after the latter had blessed the engagement of a gay couple. The meeting was also attended by the Provincial of the Maltese Dominican Province, Fr Frans Micallef. In a brief state- ment, the Curia said that Scicluna has encouraged Fr Montbello to continue his outreach to gay peo- ple, while requesting that he "con- tinue to follow Church practice and discipline in the celebration of sacred rites and Church rituals". The Curia said that Fr Montebel- lo agreed that he would continue to follow Church practices and discipline in his pastoral ministry to gay people. MaltaToday has as yet been un- able to contact Fr Montebello. Photos of Fr Montebello blessing the rings during the engagement ceremony were uploaded on Face- book and carried by the Malta In- dependent. Following the Curia meeting announcement, a Facebook page called 'Support Fr Mark Montebel- lo for Blessing a Gay Engagement' was set up. The page, that has gar- nered over 700 'likes', describes it- self as a "support page in aide of Fr Mark Montebello who will be fac- ing Kurja (sic) charges for blessing a gay couple's engagement rings." Fr Montebello publicly support- ed the civil unions legislation, ar- guing that it was the state's duty to protect gay couples in the same way it protected heterosexual cou- ples. Last year, Mgr Scicluna – then Auxiliary Bishop – said that any Catholic MPs who planned on vot- ing for the civil unions bill would be committing a "grave moral act" by doing so. In an apparent conciliatory move, Mgr Scicluna later attended an event for IDAHOT (Interna- tional Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) organised by Drachma LGBTI, a Catholic LGBT group. In 2013, Pope Francis told report- ers "if a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" and has dined with gay and transsexual inmates in visits to prisons. Recently though, the Pope spoke in opposition to gay marriage, and has declared that though homo- sexual orientation is not sinful, homosexual acts are. In Belgium, a Bishop was quoted as having called for ecclesiastical recognition of gay relationships. The official teaching that the Catholic church can recognise only male-female committed re- lationships has to change, Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said. "There should be recognition of a diversity of forms," he said. "We have to look inside the church for a formal recognition of the kind of interpersonal relationship that is also present in many gay couples. Just as there are a variety of legal frameworks for partners in civil society, one must arrive at a diver- sity of forms in the church… The intrinsic values are more impor- tant to me than the institutional question. The Christian ethic is based on lasting relationships where exclusivity, loyalty, and care are central to each other." The Bishop, the National Catho- lic Reporter reported, also made headlines in September when he issued a letter to the Vatican in preparation for the Synod on the family in October. Curia says ritual blessing of engagement not allowed for gay couples Fr Mark Montebello, OP