In that documentthe Vatican dicastery points out that priests have “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples, without officially validating their status or altering in any way the perennial teaching of the Church on Marriage.”
In addition, specifying that a ritual should not be “promoted or provided for” for these blessings, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith indicated that “to avoid any form of confusion or scandal” this blessing should not be performed “at the same time as civil rites of union, nor in connection with them”, nor with “clothes, gestures or words typical of a marriage.”
In their statement of December 19, the bishops indicated that the Vatican declaration is a “gesture of closeness and accompaniment” directed especially to the “infinity of situations of different human realities, as a sign of our praise and gratitude to God and as openness to his grace and mercy.”