Sir Elton John hits out at Vatican's 'hypocrisy' over 'God cannot bless sin' stance on gay unions

Sir Elton John hits out at Vatican’s ‘hypocrisy’ over ‘God cannot bless sin’ stance on gay unions

Mar 16, 2021

Sir Elton John has hit out at the Vatican after it declared the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin”.

The star, who married his long-term partner David Furnish in 2014, claims the stance is hypocritical as the Vatican invested “millions” in his 2019 biopic Rocketman.

Sir Elton posted a statement on social media after the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.

The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative”.

Writing on Instagram, Sir Elton said: “How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they ‘are sin’, yet happily make a profit from investing millions in Rocketman – a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?? #hypocrisy.”

The singer, 73, tagged both the Catholic Church and Pope Francis in his message.

A report that the Vatican invested in Rocketman, as well as Men in Black: International, was published in an Italian newspaper in 2019 and followed up by outlets – including The Daily Beast in the US. Sir Elton included a picture of this report in the Instagram post to his 3.2 million followers.

Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as the singer, was a critical and commercial success, with Egerton winning a Golden Globe for his performance.

The film, which featured a sex scene between Egerton and his co-star, Richard Madden, was praised for its portrayal of Sir Elton’s homosexuality.

Sir Elton and Furnish were married in 2014 after gay marriage was made legal in Britain. The couple have two sons, Zachary and Elijah.

In its explanation on same-sex unions, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said God “cannot bless sin”.

The decree distinguished between the Church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions.

“The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan,” it said.

God “does not and cannot bless sin: He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognise that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him,” it added.

Sky News has contacted the Vatican for comment.

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