Elton John Slams Catholic Church for Investing in ‘Rocketman’ but Remaining Anti-Gay Marriage

Authored by indiewire.com and submitted by gautsvo

Elton John won the Best Original Song Oscar last year for "Rocketman."

Elton John called out the Catholic Church on social media after The Guardian reported March 15 that the Vatican remains against same-sex marriage. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a decree saying blessings for same-sex marriages “cannot be considered licit,” despite “the Christian community and its pastors” being encouraged “to welcome with respect and sensitivity persons with homosexual inclinations.”

The Guardian reports: “According to Catholic teaching, marriage between a man and a woman is part of God’s plan and intended for the creation of children. Since gay unions are not intended to be part of that plan, such relationships cannot be legitimately blessed. The document went on to say that ‘God does not and cannot bless sin,’ adding: ‘He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow him to be changed by him.”

The decree as issued by the CDF was approved by Pope Francis, but going against same-sex marriages stands in contradiction to the Pope’s endorsement of same-sex marriages during an interview for a documentary in 2020. The CDF’s decree inspired a blistering response from Elton John, who slammed the Vatican for refusing to bless same-sex marriages while also investing in his biographical drama “Rocketman.”

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“How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they ‘are sin,’ yet happily make a profit from investing millions in ‘Rocketman’ — a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?” John asked his followers.

As The Daily Beast reported in 2019, the Vatican had “a $4.5 million expenditure recorded in February related to finance for the 2019 films ‘Men in Black: International’ and Elton John’s rather steamy biopic ‘Rocketman,’ which portrays the entertainer’s drug problems and is the first studio movie to portray gay sex between men in an authentic way.” John included The Daily Beast’s report in his tweet.

“Rocketman” opened in May 2019 and was a box office hit with $192 million worldwide on a $40 million production budget. John and co-writer Bernie Taupin won the Oscar for Best Original Song thanks to their tune “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again.”

How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they “are sin”, yet happily make a profit from investing millions in “Rocketman” – a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?? #hypocrisy@VaticanNews @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/sURtrWB6Nd — Elton John (@eltonofficial) March 15, 2021

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shootermcgaven743 on March 16th, 2021 at 03:10 UTC »

Who else just learnt that the Catholic Church invests in movies

WrongTemporary8 on March 16th, 2021 at 01:28 UTC »

I can't help but laugh Knowing The Vatican has funded a movie with steamy gay scenes and also Men In Black: International. I'm just picturing an extremely conservative clergyman also being a huge Elton John fan with posters plastered across their walls.

Bizzle_worldwide on March 16th, 2021 at 01:08 UTC »

Money’s money.

Also, perhaps we should also ask why they accepted the investment from the Catholic Church for Rocketman given their antiLGBTQ stance. But the answer is... Money’s money.