The Know Daily - Tuesday 19 December 2023

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📣 PSA: Our last newsletter of 2023 (!) is going out this Friday - and after that, we’ll be back in your inboxes on Friday 5 January!

The biggest open-air freshwater pool in the UK - Tooting Bec Lido in south-west London - reopened on Monday after being closed for over a year for essential repair works. South London Swimming Club members were the first to take a dip yesterday - and the public can join them from April next year!

⛪ A landmark ruling 

Catholic priests may now bless same-sex couples, the Vatican has said, in a landmark ruling approved by Pope Francis. 

What does the ruling say, exactly?
In what Sky News described as a “radical change” in policy for the Vatican, priests may now choose to bless same-sex and unmarried couples as a sign that God welcomes all. 

However, there are limitations. According to an eight-page document published on Monday, the blessing should be performed “without any type of ritualisation or offering the impression of a marriage”. The report also stresses that “the doctrine regarding marriage does not change” and that “the blessing does not signify approval of the union”.  

How big a deal is this then?
Despite the limitations, the announcement marks a “significant step forward”, said The Guardian. The paper pointed out that in 2021, the Vatican said the Catholic church could not bless same-sex couples as God “does not bless sin”.

Another Vatican observer described the move as “likely the most concrete pastoral shift on the church’s stance toward gay couples in the church’s 2,000-year history”.

How much has Pope Francis had to do with this?
A lot. Since being elected in 2013, Pope Francis “has tried to make the more than 1.35-billion-member Church more welcoming to LGBT people”, said Reuters, and he has garnered much opposition from conservative Catholics while doing so.

Monday’s ruling still constitutes a major step, though. While Pope Francis has used “an entirely different tone in talking about gay people” compared with past popes, it marks “the first time the letter of the law has actually been changed”, said The Guardian.