Sir Elton John slams the Vatican over refusal to bless same-sex marriages

15 March 2021

Sir Elton John has slammed the Vatican’s refusal to bless same-sex marriages.

Sir Elton John

The 73-year-old musician – who married David Furnish in 2014 – has taken aim at the Vatican and Pope Francis after it was announced on Monday (15.03.21) the Catholic Church will not be blessing same-sex marriages because they still believe it is a “sin”.

Elton hit out at the institution on Twitter when he pointed out the Vatican invested millions of dollars into his biographical film ‘Rocketman’ – which detailed his rise to stardom and eventual marriage to David – and therefore made money from an LGBTQ story.

He wrote: “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 @VaticanNews @Pontifex (sic)”

The ‘Tiny Dancer’ hitmaker – who has sons Zachary, 10, and Elijah, eight, with David – included a screenshot from a 2019 article that reported on the Vatican’s finances and highlighted the $4.5 million it donated to two films in 2019, ‘Rocketman’ and ‘Men in Black: International’.

Elton’s tweet comes after the Vatican published a two-page document explaining their decision not to bless same-sex marriages.

In part, the document read: “[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.”

The Vatican also insisted the Catholic Church will still “welcome and bless” LGBTQ people, but not their legal unions.

Meanwhile, the institution was also slammed by GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who said Monday’s decision “invites harm” to members of the LGBTQ community.

She tweeted: “False claims that LGBTQ people and their relationships are ‘objectively disordered’ invite harm to LGBTQ people who continue to live in fear of harassment, discrimination, and violence.

“It's well past time for an examination of conscience at the Vatican to recognize the harm that statements like these cause, especially to the many faithful LGBTQ Catholics and allies who deserve love and acceptance from their faith leaders.”