Blessing a gay couple’s engagement rings was a step too far, according to Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who feels a friar who performed this rite got “carried away with enthusiasm”.
Mgr Scicluna was speaking to Times of Malta following an urgent meeting with Dominican friar Fr Mark Montebello, who was catapulted back into controversy earlier this week after he was photographed blessing the engagement rings of a gay couple.
“Yes [this was a step too far], I think he was carried away with his enthusiasm and his commitment to reaching out to the gay community,” Mgr Scicluna said.
He added that he had communicated with Fr Montebello that he should “follow Church discipline” when it came to his pastoral duties.
There is no specific Church law banning the blessing of rings of same-sex couples, but Mgr Scicluna said this rite was reserved for marriages between men and women.
When Church law was last revised in 1983, this sort of thing was not envisaged, “so there is nothing about it specifically”, he added.
“However, it is very clear that it is reserved for unions between men and women,” the Archbishop said.
Asked what difference there was between blessing engagement rings and the commonplace blessing of homes, office buildings and even animals, Mgr Scicluna said this had to be seen “in a context”.
“These rings are a statement of a union, and we bless them only when they are a statement of a union as recognised by the Church,” he said.
Fr Mark has raised eyebrows in the past over his stance on same-sex unions, which did not always conform to the Maltese Church’s position. In an interview in 2005, Fr Mark said he would not refrain from blessing a gay marriage if he was asked to.
Fr Montebello agreed that in his pastoral ministry to gays he would continue to follow Church practices and discipline
“I can’t celebrate a gay marriage as that is against Church rules. But I would give them a blessing,” he told Malta Today.
Fr Montebello was summoned for a meeting with the Archbishop after The Malta Independent carried Facebook pictures showing him blessing the rings of two men at their engagement.
A statement issued by the Curia after yesterday’s meeting said Mgr Scicluna had encouraged Fr Montebello to continue his outreach to the gay community, and asked that he continue to follow Church practice and discipline in his ministry.
The statement said Fr Montebello thanked the Archbishop and vicar general, Fr Joe Galea Curmi, for their support and agreed that in his pastoral ministry to gays he would continue to follow Church practices and discipline.
Contacted for a reaction Fr Montebello yesterday declined to comment and referred this newspaper to the statement made by the Curia.