Elton John calls Vatican's stance against gay marriage 'hypocrisy'
Monday's news that the Catholic Church won't bless same sex unions did not go unnoticed by Elton John.
The singer, who married longtime partner David Furnish in 2014, was quick to point out that while the Vatican's official response to a question about whether clergy are allowed to perform such acts was negative, it reportedly supported Rocketman, the 2019 movie about his life. He posted side-by-side shots of stories about both events.
"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??" John asked. He labeled the alleged actions of the church "#hypocrisy."
The two-page statement from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the church welcomes and blesses gay people, but that their unions are a different story. They're not part of God's plan, according to the document, which was issued in seven languages. This, just a few months after Pope Francis raised hopes of many gay Catholics when he noted, "“Homosexuals have a right to be part of the family…They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it…What we have to create is a civil union law. That way, they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”
John's criticism, meanwhile, came from the fact that, in December 2019, the Daily Beast reported that some of the church's money wound up invested in entertainment. A report of financial expenditures listed $4.5 million invested in both Men in Black: International and John's Oscar-winning bio pic, which dealt with John's sexuality.
Box Office Mojo listed the movie's worldwide grosses at $195 million.
While John and Furnish married seven years ago, they began dating in 1993. They entered a civil partnership in 2005.
Just before they married, John argued that the church's views were outdated.
"These are old and stupid things, and the church hierarchy might be up in arms about it — the traditionalists — but times have changed," he told Sky News. "We live in a different time. If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen. He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together, and that is what the church should be about."
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