At a synodal press conference on October 18, 2023, Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga, Latvia, said the Church teaches that people with same-sex attraction should be accepted with respect. But, he added: “True love cannot be separated from truth, because if love is separated from truth, it is no longer love.”
“If there is a person living in sin and we tell this person, ‘Everything is all right with you, it’s OK, go ahead,’ we do harm because this person is in danger. When he dies, he will be in great danger,” he explained.
The archbishop also addressed the complementarity of men and women. He said he was in favor of giving women “more room in the Church, but without changing what is in the Gospel and what is in tradition of the Church.”
Stankevičs, Archbishop of Riga since 2010, stressed that “in response to the issues of women’s participation in the Church and same-sex blessings, ‘we must be faithful to holy Scriptures, and what the Church for 2000 years has discovered by interpreting the Scriptures.’”
The prelate then granted that one could pray for a homosexual who came individually and was ready to live in God’s grace. And “if two people come and say ‘we want to live in chastity. . . and we are tempted,’ you can pray from them and also bless them to help them live in chastity.’”
“But if two come and say ‘we live together as husband and wife and want to obtain a blessing,’ I see a big problem here because in this way we bless living in sin,” he added.
The 68-year-old archbishop said he had personally undergone “a pastoral conversion” on the issue. “Jesus says we must love our neighbor… also homosexuals are also our neighbors and I must love them – to love in truth… and not a love that allows everything,” he added.
During the press conference, Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, Archbishop of Manaus, Brazil, was asked about his previous statements in favor of same-sex unions and whether he thought the synod on synodality could present “concrete steps” for Church teaching to evolve on this issue.
In response, Bishop Steiner said the current synodal assembly was not intended to “lead to determinations or conclusions.” He then declared that “the Holy Father wishes that the session that will happen next year look at [concrete issues],” adding that it is “a very good thing that this debate has come up” on these topics.
The situation is quite clear: the practice of blessing same-sex couples is regularly applied in several countries such as Germany and Belgium, with the approval of the episcopate. The situation in Rome shows that there is no question of intervention.
In response to a question about blessing same-sex unions, a Latvian archbishop present at the Synod on Synodality warned that telling a person living in sin that “all is well” puts them in great spiritual danger.