The ten bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Rennes commented on 1st January on Francis' pamphlet 'Sodoma supplicans'.
They note that marriage has been trivialised by turning it into a concept of civil law that ignores the essential specificity of sexual difference.
The bishops reaffirm their prophetic mission to proclaim the beauty of God's design in creating man as male and female.
Their text reads in bold: "For this reason, it is appropriate to spontaneously and individually bless each of the two persons who form a couple, whatever their sexual orientation, who humbly ask for God's blessing with the desire to conform themselves more and more to his holy will".
The signatories are
✠ Mgr Pierre d'Ornellas, Archbishop of Rennes
✠ Mgr Raymond Centène, Bishop of Vannes
✠ Mgr Emmanuel Delmas, Bishop of Angers
✠ Mgr Laurent Dognin, Bishop of Quimper
✠ Mgr François Jacolin, bishop of Luçon
✠ Mgr Denis Moutel, Bishop of Saint-Brieuc
✠ Mgr Laurent Percerou, Bishop of Nantes
✠ Mgr Jean-Pierre Vuillemin, Bishop of Le Mans
✠ Mgr Jean Bondu, Auxiliary Bishop of Rennes
Frédéric Foucher, diocesan administrator of Laval
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