"Even when a person’s relationship with God is clouded by sin, he can always ask for a blessing, stretching out his hand to God, as Peter did in the storm when he cried out to Jesus, ‘Lord, save me!’ (Mt. 14:30).” – Fiducia supplicans, 43
Catholics should be on guard against misleading headlines from media outlets that inaccurately portray Pope Francis and the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) as changing Church doctrine or condoning unions that do not conform to Church teaching. It does not authorize or endorse same-sex marriage. The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed.
The Vatican Dicastery’s Dec. 18 Declaration, Fiducia supplicans (“Trusting supplication”), makes clear,
“Therefore, rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage—which is the “exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children” — and what contradicts it, are inadmissible. This conviction is grounded in the perennial Catholic doctrine of marriage; it is only in this context that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning. The Church’s doctrine on this point remains firm.”— section 4
Fiducia supplicans is careful to observe that such blessings should not be included in any liturgical rite or give the appearance of endorsing what does not conform to Church teaching (section 11). Instead, the DDF envisions blessings given on “occasions when people spontaneously ask for a blessing, whether on pilgrimages, at shrines, or even on the street when they meet a priest” (section 28). These are not blessings bestowed within a sacrament or Church liturgy, but in the framework of a request for personal pastoral accompaniment and spiritual guidance.
Media reports that suggest the Dec. 18 Vatican Declaration endorses same-sex unions should be rejected. The faithful are encouraged to read the Dec. 18 Vatican Declaration and its 2021 predecessor Responsum document, to gain a fuller understanding of Church teaching on same-sex unions. The DDF’s 2021 Responsum begins with the question: “Does the Church have the power to give blessings to unions of persons of the same sex?” The response is: “Negative.”
Fiducia supplicans can be found online by visiting: Fiducia supplicans
The 2021 Responsum can be found online by visiting: Responsum
January 4, 2024 Vatican Explanatory Press Release
La reciente declaración del Vaticano no cambia la enseñanza de la Iglesia sobre el matrimonio
“Incluso cuando la relación de una persona con Dios se ve empañada por el pecado, siempre puede pedir una bendición, extendiendo su mano a Dios, como lo hizo Pedro en la tormenta cuando clamó a Jesús: ‘¡Señor, sálvame!’ (Mt. .14:30).” – Fiducia suplicans, 43
Los católicos deben estar en guardia contra los titulares engañosos de los medios de comunicación que retratan inexactamente al Papa Francisco y al Dicasterio Vaticano para la Doctrina de la Fe (DDF) como si estuvieran cambiando la doctrina de la Iglesia o tolerando uniones que no se ajustan a las enseñanzas de la Iglesia. No autoriza ni respalda el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. La enseñanza de la Iglesia sobre el matrimonio no ha cambiado. La Declaración del Dicasterio del Vaticano del 18 de diciembre, Fiducia supplicans (“Súplica confiada”), deja claro:
“Por lo tanto, son inadmisibles los ritos y oraciones que puedan crear confusión entre lo que constituye el matrimonio –que es la “unión exclusiva, estable e indisoluble entre un hombre y una mujer, naturalmente abierta a la procreación de hijos”- y lo que lo contradice. Esta convicción se basa en la perenne doctrina católica del matrimonio; sólo en este contexto las relaciones sexuales encuentran su significado natural, propio y plenamente humano. La doctrina de la Iglesia sobre este punto sigue siendo firme.”—sección 4
Fiducia supplicans tiene cuidado de observar que tales bendiciones no deben incluirse en ningún rito litúrgico ni dar la apariencia de respaldar lo que no se ajusta a las enseñanzas de la Iglesia (sección 11). En cambio, el DDF prevé bendiciones dadas en “ocasiones en las que la gente pide espontáneamente una bendición, ya sea en peregrinaciones, en santuarios o incluso en la calle cuando se encuentran con un sacerdote” (sección 28). Estas no son bendiciones otorgadas dentro de un sacramento o liturgia de la Iglesia, sino en el marco de una solicitud de acompañamiento pastoral personal y guía espiritual.
Los informes de los medios que sugieren que la Declaración del Vaticano del 18 de diciembre respalda las uniones entre personas del mismo sexo deberían ser rechazados. Se anima a los fieles a leer la Declaración del Vaticano del 18 de diciembre y su documento Responsum predecesor de 2021, para obtener una comprensión más completa de las enseñanzas de la Iglesia sobre las uniones entre personas del mismo sexo. La Responsum 2021 del DDF comienza con la pregunta: “¿Tiene la Iglesia el poder de dar bendiciones a las uniones de personas del mismo sexo?” La respuesta es: “Negativa”.
Más información en forma de entrevista de preguntas y respuestas estará disponible en una próxima edición del ICR.
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Press release concerning the reception of Fiducia supplicans
4 January 2024
We are writing this Press Release to help clarify the reception of Fiducia supplicans, while recommending at the same time a full and calm reading of the Declaration so as to better understand its meaning and purpose.
1. Doctrine
The understandable statements of some Episcopal Conferences regarding the document Fiducia supplicans have the value of highlighting the need for a more extended period of pastoral reflection. What is expressed by these Episcopal Conferences cannot be interpreted as doctrinal opposition, because the document is clear and definitive about marriage and sexuality. There are several indisputable phrases in the Declaration that leave this in no doubt:
«This Declaration remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage, not allowing any type of liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion». One acts in these situations of couples in irregular situations «without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage» (Presentation).
«Therefore, rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage – which is the “exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children”–and what contradicts it are inadmissible. This conviction is grounded in the perennial Catholic doctrine of marriage; it is only in this context that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning. The Church’s doctrine on this point remains firm» (4).
«Such is also the meaning of the Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which states that the Church does not have the power to impart blessings on unions of persons of the same sex» (5).
«For this reason, since the Church has always considered only those sexual relations that are lived out within marriage to be morally licit, the Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when that would somehow offer a form of moral legitimacy to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice» (11).
Evidently, there is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally from this Declaration or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church or blasphemous.
2. Practical reception
Some Bishops, however, express themselves in particular regarding a practical aspect: the possible blessings of couples in irregular situations. The Declaration contains a proposal for short and simple pastoral blessings (neither liturgical nor ritualised) of couples in irregular situations (but not of their unions), underlining that these are blessings without a liturgical format which neither approve nor justify the situation in which these people find themselves.
Documents of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith such as Fiducia supplicans, in their practical aspects, may require more or less time for their application depending on local contexts and the discernment of each diocesan Bishop with his Diocese. In some places no difficulties arise for their immediate application, while in others it will be necessary not to introduce them, while taking the time necessary for reading and interpretation.
Some Bishops, for example, have established that each priest must carry out the work of discernment and that he may, however, perform these blessings only in private. None of this is problematic if it is expressed with due respect for a text signed and approved by the Supreme Pontiff himself, while attempting in some way to accommodate the reflection contained in it.
Each local Bishop, by virtue of his own ministry, always has the power of discernment in loco, that is, in that concrete place that he knows better than others precisely because it is his own flock. Prudence and attention to the ecclesial context and to the local culture could allow for different methods of application, but not a total or definitive denial of this path that is proposed to priests.
3. The delicate situation of some countries
The cases of some Episcopal Conferences must be understood in their contexts. In several countries there are strong cultural and even legal issues that require time and pastoral strategies that go beyond the short term.
If there are laws that condemn the mere act of declaring oneself as a homosexual with prison and in some cases with torture and even death, it goes without saying that a blessing would be imprudent. It is clear that the Bishops do not wish to expose homosexual persons to violence. It remains vital that these Episcopal Conferences do not support a doctrine different from that of the Declaration signed by the Pope, given that it is perennial doctrine, but rather that they recommend the need for study and discernment so as to act with pastoral prudence in such a context.
In truth, there are not a few countries that, to varying degrees, condemn, prohibit and criminalize homosexuality. In these cases, apart from the question of blessings, there exists a great and wide-ranging pastoral responsibility that includes training, the defense of human dignity, the teaching of the Social Doctrine of the Church and various strategies that do not admit of a rushed response.
4. The real novelty of the document
The real novelty of this Declaration, the one that requires a generous effort of reception and from which no one should declare themselves excluded, is not the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations. It is the invitation to distinguish between two different forms of blessings: “liturgical or ritualized” and “spontaneous or pastoral”. The Presentation clearly explains that «the value of this document […] is that it offers a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings, permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings, which is closely linked to a liturgical perspective». This «theological reflection, based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis, implies a real development from what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and the official texts of the Church».
In the background is found the positive evaluation of “popular pastoral care” which appears in many of the Holy Father’s texts. In this context, the Holy Father invites us to value the simple faith of the People of God who, even in the midst of their sins, emerge from their everyday lives and open their hearts to ask for God’s help.
For this reason, rather than the blessing of couples in irregular unions, the text of the Dicastery has adopted the other profile of a “Declaration”, which is much more than a responsum or a letter. The central theme, which invites us especially to a deeper pastoral practice which enriches our pastoral praxis, is to have a broader understanding of blessings and of the proposal that these pastoral blessings, which do not require the same conditions as blessings in a liturgical or ritual context, flourish. Consequently, leaving polemics aside, the text requires an effort to reflect serenely, with the heart of shepherds, free from all ideology.
Although some Bishops consider it prudent not to impart these blessings for the moment, we all need to grow equally in the conviction that: non-ritualized blessings are not a consecration of the person nor of the couple who receives them, they are not a justification of all their actions, and they are not an endorsement of the life that they lead. When the Pope asked us to grow in a broader understanding of pastoral blessings, he proposed that we think of a way of blessing that does not require the placing of so many conditions to carry out this simple gesture of pastoral closeness, which is a means of promoting openness to God in the midst of the most diverse circumstances.
5. How do these “pastoral blessings” present themselves in concrete terms?
To be clearly distinguished from liturgical or ritualized blessings, “pastoral blessings” must above all be very short (see n. 38). These are blessings lasting a few seconds, without an approved ritual and without a book of blessings. If two people approach together to seek the blessing, one simply asks the Lord for peace, health and other good things for these two people who request it. At the same time, one asks that they may live the Gospel of Christ in full fidelity and so that the Holy Spirit can free these two people from everything that does not correspond to his divine will and from everything that requires purification.
This non-ritualized form of blessing, with the simplicity and brevity of its form, does not intend to justify anything that is not morally acceptable. Obviously it is not a marriage, but equally it is not an “approval” or ratification of anything either. It is solely the response of a pastor towards two persons who ask for God’s help. Therefore, in this case, the pastor does not impose conditions and does not enquire about the intimate lives of these people.
Since some have raised the question of what these blessings might look like, let us look at a concrete example: let us imagine that among a large number making a pilgrimage a couple of divorced people, now in a new union, say to the priest: “Please give us a blessing, we cannot find work, he is very ill, we do not have a home and life is becoming very difficult: may God help us!”.
In this case, the priest can recite a simple prayer like this: “Lord, look at these children of yours, grant them health, work, peace and mutual help. Free them from everything that contradicts your Gospel and allow them to live according to your will. Amen”. Then it concludes with the sign of the cross on each of the two persons.
We are talking about something that lasts about 10 or 15 seconds. Does it make sense to deny these kinds of blessings to these two people who ask for them? Is it not more appropriate to support their faith, whether it be small or great, to assist them in their weaknesses with a divine blessing, and to channel that openness to transcendence which could lead them to be more faithful to the Gospel?
In order to avoid any doubt, the Declaration adds that, when the blessing is requested by a couple in an irregular situation, «even though it is expressed outside the rites prescribed by the liturgical books, this blessing should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding. The same applies when the blessing is requested by a same-sex couple» (n. 39). It remains clear, therefore, that the blessing must not take place in a prominent place within a sacred building, or in front of an altar, as this also would create confusion.
For this reason, every Bishop in his Diocese is authorized by the Declaration Fiducia supplicans to make this type of simple blessing available, bearing in mind the need for prudence and care, but in no way is he authorized to propose or make blessings available that may resemble a liturgical rite.
6. Catechesis
In some places, perhaps, some catechesis will be necessary that can help everyone to understand that these types of blessings are not an endorsement of the life led by those who request them. Even less are they an absolution, as these gestures are far from being a sacrament or a rite. They are simple expressions of pastoral closeness that do not impose the same requirements as a sacrament or a formal rite. We will all have to become accustomed to accepting the fact that, if a priest gives this type of simple blessings, he is not a heretic, he is not ratifying anything nor is he denying Catholic doctrine.
We can help God’s People to discover that these kinds of blessings are just simple pastoral channels that help people give expression to their faith, even if they are great sinners. For this reason, in giving a blessing to two people who come together to ask for it spontaneously, we are not consecrating them nor are we congratulating them nor indeed are we approving that type of union. In reality the same happens when individuals are blessed, as the individual who asks for a blessing – not absolution – could be a great sinner, but this does not mean we deny him this paternal gesture in the midst of his struggle to survive.
If this is clarified as a result of good catechesis, we can free ourselves from the fear that these blessings of ours may express something inadequate. We can be freer and perhaps closer and more fruitful ministers, with a ministry that is full of gestures of fatherhood and hospitality, without fear of being misunderstood.
We ask the newly-born Lord to shower a generous and gracious blessing upon everyone so that we can live a holy and happy 2024.
Víctor Manuel Card. Fernández
Prefect
Mons. Armando Matteo
Secretary for the Doctrinal Section
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