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InfoVaticana on the theologian named to the Theological Commission: its account of the 2021 Vatican document on blessings is accurate

Reporting Claudia Leal Luna’s appointment to the International Theological Commission, InfoVaticana recalls her 2021 criticism of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Responsum on blessing same-sex unions. Its description of that document, its date, signatories, answer and key sentence, matches the Holy See’s published text.

By TradWatch™ staff

2 min read

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Verdicts at a glance

  1. Accurate

    The 2021 Responsum on blessings is dated 22 February 2021, signed by Cardinal Ladaria and Archbishop Morandi, answered “negatively”, and says God “does not and cannot bless sin”. · InfoVaticana

In this brief · 7 sections
  1. 01What was said
  2. 02Context
  3. 03The record
  4. 04Bottom line
  5. 05The original
  6. 06Sources
  7. 07Corrections

On 20 October 2026 InfoVaticana reported that the Chilean theologian Claudia Leal Luna, named the day before to the International Theological Commission, had criticised in 2021 the Vatican document declaring that the Church cannot bless same-sex unions.

What was said

The statement under review, quoted verbatim, with a link to the moment it was made.

Statement 1: InfoVaticana

InfoVaticana · October 20, 2026

The document she was responding to was a Responsum ad dubium dated February 22, 2021, signed by Cardinal Luis Ladaria, then prefect, and by Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary, and published with the assent of Francis.

— InfoVaticana, InfoVaticana

In brief: The 2021 Responsum on blessings is dated 22 February 2021, signed by Cardinal Ladaria and Archbishop Morandi, answered “negatively”, and says God “does not and cannot bless sin”.

Our verdict: AccurateThe record supports the claim as stated.

See the record
God does not bless sin: the theologian who criticized that document joins the Theological Commissioninfovaticana.com

This content is embedded for purposes of commentary, criticism, and news reporting. TradWatch is not affiliated with InfoVaticana. Views quoted are those of the speaker.

Context

The article also quotes Leal Luna’s 2021 interview with Radio Universidad de Chile; those quotes were not checked here and are not rated.

The record

What the sources show, statement by statement.

Verifiable factcan be checked against the sources cited.TradWatch analysisis our interpretation, clearly labelled.
1

Statement 1 · InfoVaticana

The 2021 Responsum on blessings is dated 22 February 2021, signed by Cardinal Ladaria and Archbishop Morandi, answered “negatively”, and says God “does not and cannot bless sin”.

  1. Verifiable fact

    The Holy See’s text

    The Responsum, published by the Holy See Press Office on 15 March 2021, answers the question “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” with “Negative.” Its explanatory note says God “does not and cannot bless sin: he blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him.” It is dated “the 22nd of February 2021” and signed by Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria, Prefect, and Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, Secretary (Holy See Press Office).

    Source

    • 2

      Official Church source

      Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex

      Holy See Press Office · March 15, 2021

      Read source

  2. Verifiable fact

    The appointment

    Claudia Leal Luna is among the 24 new members of the International Theological Commission Leo XIV appointed on 19 October 2026 (Vatican News).

    Source

    • 3

      Official Church source

      Pope Leo XIV appoints members of International Theological Commission

      Vatican News · October 19, 2026

      Read source

  3. TradWatch analysis

    Reporting, with a headline that takes a side

    InfoVaticana’s account of the document is exact, and its wording of the key sentence is a fair translation of the official text. Its headline frames the appointment through the document’s words; whether a theologian’s past criticism should weigh on such an appointment is a matter of opinion and is not rated here.

    Source

    • 2

      Official Church source

      Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex

      Holy See Press Office · March 15, 2021

      Read source

Bottom line

Accurate: the Responsum is dated 22 February 2021, signed by Ladaria and Morandi, and says God “does not and cannot bless sin”.

The original

The full episode we checked, as InfoVaticana published it.
Dios no bendice el pecado: la teóloga que criticó aquel documento entra en la Comisión TeológicaInfoVaticana · Opens the original

Sources

3 sources: 1 primary source, 2 Church sources. Every source is linked; where pages may change we link an archived copy.

Corrections & updates

We fix errors openly. Every change is dated here and in our corrections log.

No corrections have been made to this brief. Spotted an error? Request a correction.

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Help us keep the record straight

If we’ve made a mistake, tell us — we correct errors openly and log every change. People and outlets we write about can respond, and we publish their replies here.

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