Vatican: Same-sex couple 'blessings' aren't 'heretical'

The Vatican’s doctrinal office on Thursday tried to calm criticism from  Catholic bishops in some countries who reacted negatively to last month’s limited approval of blessings for same-sex couples. The Vatican said the measure could not be seen — as some had said — as “heretical” or “blasphemous.” 

The five-page statement essentially sought to stress two core points.

Firstly, allowing the blessings has no impact on the Catholic Church’s definition of marriage as the “exclusive,…