The CDF Responsum said priests could not give blessings to same-sex unions because "God cannot bless sin".

The statement has caused an outcry from LGBT+ Catholics and their supporters.

The sources who spoke with America Magazine did not wish to be identified as they were not authorized to comment.

They noted that when commenting on the Gospel of the day, which recounts that some Greeks wanted "to see Jesus," Pope Francis said many people today also want to see, to meet and to know Jesus.

"We Christians and our communities" have "the great responsibility" to make this possible by "the witness of a life that is given in service, a life that takes upon itself the style of God: closeness, compassion and tenderness," Francis said.

He explained that this "means sowing seeds of love, not with fleeting words but through concrete, simple and courageous examples; not with theoretical condemnations but with gestures of love."

He added that "then the Lord, with his grace, makes us bear fruit, even when the soil is dry due to misunderstandings, difficulty or persecution or claims of legalism or clerical moralism.

"This is barren soil.

"Precisely then, in trials and in solitude, while the seed is dying, that is the moment in which life blossoms, to bear ripe fruit in due time."

He followed up the comments on Tuesday, calling on Catholic moral theologians, missionaries and confessors to follow the example of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, the famous moral theologian and founder of the Redemptorists, who showed how "to keep together the demands of the Gospel and human fragility."

He invited them, following the example of the saint and bishop, "to enter into a living relationship with the members of God's people and to look at life from their perspective in order to understand the real difficulties they encounter and to help heal their wounds."

Moral theology, the pope said, cannot be only about principles and formulations, but must respond to the reality of the person in need, "because knowledge of theoretical principles alone, as St. Alphonsus himself reminds us, is not enough to accompany and sustain consciences in discerning the good to be done."

Earlier, on eve of the Feast of St Joseph, Francis urged student priests of Rome's Belgian Pontifical College to learn the art of fatherhood from St. Joseph.

"Saint Joseph is a welcoming father" who set aside his legitimate personal plans and loved and welcomed Mary and Jesus with faith, in a vision of a family life quite different from what he might have wished for.

In this regard, he is a master of spiritual life and discernment, who welcomes what happens in life.

As a shepherd, the Pope said, a priest always stays with his flock, sometimes in front to open the way, at times in the middle to encourage, or behind to gather the last ones.

Without being rigid, an attentive guardian, he said, is ready to change as situations require, always understanding the needs of his flock and avoiding the opposite temptations of domination and carelessness.

Sources

• America Magazine
• America Magazine
• Vatican News

Part of it has probably been praying this novena, but a bigger part is art. I'm sorry, but I just can't get that excited about an old guy with a lily.

But with all the traveling I've done, I've seen a lot of images of St. Joseph that have shown me that this is a tender, fierce, joyful, protector of a man, the man who taught curly-haired, gap-toothed Jesus how to hold a hammer and speak to ladies and go back to sleep after a nightmare.

That's a Saint worth loving. So here are some of my favorite images of Joseph, strong, sweet, and silly as he was.

• Watching over Mary during the Visitation. It never occurred to me that he might have traveled with her, but of course he would have wanted to protect her!
• Loving on his bride.
• Not just teaching little Jesus but learning from him, too.
• Standing behind Mary and Jesus with his staff, ready to take on any brigand, ruffian, or trained soldier who might threaten his beloveds.
• Mary's looking at Jesus and Jesus is looking at the Father but Joseph is looking at the audience as if to say, "You GUYS! Do you believe they let me hang out with them??" Continue reading

• Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a cradle Catholic and a revert, brought back to the fold by a grace-filled confession and the supreme logic of Catholic doctrine.

The church has not been used for regular mass for the past five years and its deconsecration gave about 200 past parishioners a chance to say goodbye.

Deconsecration removes the religious blessing placed on the building, in preparation for future secular use.

After the service, presided over by Christchurch bishop Barry Jones, and attended by five other past priests, afternoon tea was held at St Thomas's.

The property on a 1690-square metre residential section is on the market for $395,000 plus GST.

The Congregation for Divine Worship issued the decree calling for the inclusion of St Joseph in Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV. St Joseph is already mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I, as mandated by Blessed John XXIII.

The decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship, formally dated May 1 (the feast of St. Joseph the Worker), provides that the name of the Virgin Mary will be immediately followed by the words "with blessed Joseph, her spouse".

The decree notes that after John XXIII added the name of St Joseph to the Roman Canon, there were petitions from the faithful asking that St Joseph also be named in the other Eucharistic Prayers. These petitions, the decree said, had the support of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and the latter approved the new mandate.

An official of the congregation told Catholic News Service that national bishops' conferences could set a date for the changes to begin if they believe that is necessary, "but because it is a matter of only adding five words, priests can begin immediately".

The decree described St Joseph as "an exemplary model of the kindness and humility that the Christian faith raises to a great destiny, and demonstrates the ordinary and simple virtues necessary for men to be good and genuine followers of Christ".

Pope Francis, who has a flower used as a symbol of St. Joseph on his coat-of-arms, chose the March 19 feast of St Joseph as the date for his inaugural Mass.

Pope Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger and celebrated the March 19 feast of St Joseph as his name day, told a crowd in Cameroon in 2009 that he had "received the grace of bearing this beautiful name".

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Vatican Information Service

Image: Wikimedia