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A Catholic priest performed South Korea’s first official same-sex couple blessing in the church last month.
According to Kyunghyang Newspaper, same-sex couples were blessed by Rev. Lee Seung-bok in a disclosed ceremony last month. This marks South Korea’s first known blessing of same-sex couples.
According to the report, a same-sex couple in their 40s who were married in Canada in 2013, and a queer couple, who are planning to get married in the United States next year, received blessings in South Korea on the 20th of last month. The blessing was given by Father Lee Seung-bok.
The couple said, “I couldn’t hold my tears during the brain response; they said, “I couldn’t hold my tears during the prayer recital. For the first time, I felt that my existence was being acknowledged.” However, they also mentioned, “As a minority couple, I was discriminated against, and I felt like I wasn’t even acknowledged for who I am. I was deeply hurt by the malicious comments on the article about the Pope’s LGBTQ-friendly message.”
The blessing for them holds a special meaning, “being recognized as a community.” The couple revealed, “The fact that we received the blessing together is meaningful.”
Previously, the Vatican allowed the blessing of same-sex couples by Catholic priests through a doctrinal declaration titled ‘With a Begging Heart’ on December 18 last year, mentioning “pastoral care.” Pope Francis raised his voice on the 7th, saying, “It is hypocrisy to oppose the blessing of same-sex couples while not opposing the blessing of immoral entrepreneurs.”
However, the Pope stated that “The blessing of same-sex couples should not be confused with the sacrament of marriage. He imposed restrictions such as “no wearing tuxedos or dresses.” Furthermore, as the Korean Catholic Church has not yet officially commented on this first blessing case in Korea, it seems complicated to extend it to the entire Korean Catholic community.
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