NEW HAMPSHIRE (LifeSiteNews) — Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he supports homosexual “marriage” and cited the recent Fiducia Supplicans document from the Vatican that endorses so-called “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.”
Christie, a professed Catholic, said that he has changed his view on the issue and cited young people as one cause of the change. He is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“[T]his past week or two, Pope Francis is now allowing ‘blessings’ of same-sex couples; even the Church is changing,” Christie said at a New Hampshire town hall at the end of December, according to Catholic News Agency.
“Society has changed, and what people are accepting in our country now is different than when I was growing up, certainly than when I was your age,” he also said. “And you know, I don’t have any objection to it any longer. In the end, I think I’ve been convinced.”
The comments are further evidence of the way the Vatican document has caused confusion in the Catholic Church.
The news has also exposed divisions in the Catholic Church, with many African bishops condemning the document. Heterodox prelates, such as the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, welcomed the announcement. Jesuit Fr. James Martin had a “blessing” at a Jesuit residence with a New York Times photographer and two journalists on hand the day after the document’s release.
The document also contradicts a 2021 document, signed by Pope Francis, that rejects the ideas of “blessings” for homosexual couples, an idea pushed by heterodox bishops in Germany.
Christie’s history of endorsing liberal ideas in contradiction to the Catholic faith
Christie has regularly endorsed views contrary to the Catholic faith. In 2015, he said that he and his wife used birth control. “Does that make me an awful Catholic, because I believed and practiced that function during part of my life?” he said. “I don’t think so, but you know what? I’m only going to find out when it’s my time to be judged.”
The Catholic Church condemns the use of birth control as a mortal sin.
Christie also said he believes that it is okay for gender-confused minors to have permanent procedures that eliminate their reproductive capabilities or otherwise remove healthy organs, calling limits on such interventions “intrusive.”
He said in August of last year that the government should never interfere with parents who want their minor to undergo drugs or surgeries that seek to have a gender-confused individual look more like the opposite sex.
The Catholic Church teaches that there are only two sexes and it is not possible to change one’s sex. Instead, individuals confused about their sex need prayer and counseling and other supports to help them accept their sexed nature.
Christie also reportedly previously donated to Planned Parenthood and said that he was “pro-choice” in the 1990s, according to an article from 2016. He disputed the claims in the article, though the author of the original piece was later hired to work as a press secretary for the governor.
He is currently polling at 10.5% in the New Hampshire GOP primary, according to RealClearPolitics.
