Vatican: Priests can't bless gay unions because God "cannot bless sin"

• "Many gay Catholics had been hopeful that Francis would create more openness inside the church, not only by speaking more welcomingly about homosexuality but by changing church law," the Washington Post writes.

The decree was written by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office in response to a question posed to the church.

• “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,” the response said.