I left the Catholic Church over its LGBTQ views. Its decision to bless same-sex couples doesn’t change my mind.

Some on social media are dubbing it a “Christmas miracle.” Its timing offers an element of surprise akin to when gay marriage was made legal across the nation in 2015, just days before that year’s largest Pride celebrations.

I’m talking, of course, about the Vatican’s announcement on Monday that Pope Francis is allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.

His Holiness has been making headlines lately, floating trial balloons on his more progressive stance to welcome members of the LGBTQ community, including a shift in position allowing transgender people to be baptized, be godparents, and serve as witnesses at church weddings.

While on the surface this proverbial about-face seems groundbreaking, let’s look below the surface. Read the fine print, if you will.

Read the fine print.

Church doctrine says that marriage can only be between a man and a woman; the Vatican has long maintained that it could not undermine this doctrine by blessing same-sex couples. The new ruling tiptoes around that by saying blessings can proceed as long as they are divorced from any ceremony that comes close to the suggestion of a civil or same-sex union. So no liturgical rites. No weddings.

Instead, the blessings can only be imparted during a meeting with a priest, a visit to a shrine, or a pilgrimage. Alternatively, they can be included with a prayer recited in a group.

Moreover, the ruling stressed, the same-sex relationship itself cannot be blessed.

Hm. Not nearly as progressive as it initially appeared.

So how is a Catholic gay couple supposed to proceed? Should they advise a priest they are gay before asking to be blessed? And would doing so color the characterization of the blessing compared with blessings given to spouses who identify as straight?

Francis may be sincere in his intention, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

Perhaps the most recent announcement is a play on the pontiff’s part to lure back gay Catholics who have been alienated by the church over the years. Maybe the papacy did not like being upstaged by priests in Germany and elsewhere who were already grabbing their own headlines as they imparted blessings to LGBTQ couples.

Let’s be real. Defection from the Catholic Church has only accelerated over the years. A rise in secularism coupled with a persisting public relations problem over sexual abuse still being resolved archdiocese by archdiocese has not helped matters. This does not bode well for the Holy See’s coffers and long-term prospects.

In March of 2021, I was one of those defectors.

I grew up in a devout family, was educated by Jesuits, and even considered becoming a priest. After I came out, I kept attending Mass, and stayed devout through the sexual abuse scandal, believing that the sins of individual abusers did not take away from the good of the institution.

That changed in 2021, when the Catholic Church confirmed it would not bless same-sex unions, arguing that God “cannot bless sin.”

This harsh, if not hostile, message toward the LGBTQ community is a tough pill to swallow for gay Catholics in America and the world over who have long had to walk the tightrope of our beliefs over a doctrine that continually turns a cold shoulder on this one aspect of who we are.

So I left Catholicism. And this week’s announcement does nothing to change my mind.

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These new blessings seem like a nice thing to do, but they don’t go far enough to demonstrate to the LGBTQ faithful that they are unconditionally loved in the eyes of God and the church.

When I announced I was leaving the church in 2021, I got many vehement responses from people who disagreed and agreed with me. Both sides prayed for me. I anticipate it will be the same case this time around.

In the meantime, I will continue to hold out for a no-holds-barred blessing, both for myself and for when I am blessed to find a loving partner to marry.

Jobert E. Abueva is the author of “Boy Wander: A Coming of Age Memoir” (Rattling Good Yarns Press), in part about his Catholic upbringing. He lives in New Hope.