UPDATE: I’ve apparently been wrong about my reading of parts of this declaration and deleted my article. I will defer to those much smarter than me when it comes to Catholicism, like…
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, who is a brilliant fellow Catholic, has a different take on this and you can read his summary paragraph below:
So … what’s changed? Literally nothing, except the Vatican has once again closed the door on recognizing “irregular situations” in cohabitation, regardless of their orientation. Priests and deacons always had the authority to offer spontaneous, non-ritualized blessings on individuals regardless of the status of their communion with the church. This declaration simply reiterates that authority, while emphasizing to priests that they have to take care not to confuse these blessings with those of the marriage rituals, and make sure that those who receive these blessings know the difference. It is actually a warning to the ordained who might otherwise have taken these issues into their own hands.
You can read Ed’s full article here.
And Bree A Dail, who writes:
VATICAN CITY—The new Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith states people in “irregular” unions, such as same sex unions, may NOT receive anything resembling liturgical blessings, or blessings of their unions.
They may, however, receive spontaneous blessing, limited to “the invocation of a blessing that descends from God upon those who recognizing themselves to be destitute and in need of his help do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit. These forms of blessing express a supplication that God may grant those aids that come from the impulses of his Spirit what classical theology calls “actual grace” —so that human relationships may mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel, that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love.”
Translation: Nothing has changed.
Sorry, no gay weddings, but sure, you can ask a priest to bless you.