Eastern Rite, Chaldean Catholic Church Rejects Any Blessing of Same-Sex Unions

Following an internal synod, the church issued a statement: “In order to preserve the sanctity of marriage,” the Chaldean Catholic Church refuses to “bless same-sex partnerships.”
The Eastern Rite, Chaldean Catholic Church rejected the blessing of homosexual couples at its most recent synod. The head of this church of the East Syrian Rite is the well-known Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako (archive photo), the Patriarch of Baghdad (Iraq).   The bishops of the Chaldean Synod on July 16 issued a statement declaring their position on the blessing of same-sex unions as well as the necessity of protecting children from sexual abuse.
The Chaldean Catholic Church's statement: 
In the evening session of Tuesday, July 16, 2024, the Synod Fathers discussed the topic of sexual harassment and the issue of homosexuals.
The elders decided, the necessity of protecting children from sexual harassment, and educating priests about the dangers of this. They also stressed the importance of priests participating in the child protection program and obtaining a certificate from the local church authority.
As for the union of homosexuals (two people of the same sex), they adopted the following decision: The Chaldean Church in Iraq and the world does not consider the union of homosexuals to be a marriage, because it considers the marriage between a male and a female to be the correct legal marriage for building a family, and refuses to bless the union of homosexuals, in order to preserve the sanctity of marriage, which is one of the seven sacraments.
The Vatican previously issued directives allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex individuals as a couple as pastoral closeness without condoning homosexual relations.
These directives caused some controversy, for which the Vatican issued a subsequent clarification (SEE: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20240104_comunicato-fiducia-supplicans_en.html ), especially after the misunderstanding led the Coptic Church to suspend dialogue with the Latin Church.
The Vatican's clarification stated that the non-liturgical form of the blessing is not a marriage, nor is it an endorsement or approval of same-sex relationships, but “merely a response from the pastor to two people seeking God’s help.”