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Fiducia supplicans

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Fiducia supplicans ('Supplicating Trust')[1] is a 2023 declaration on Catholic doctrine that allows Catholic priests to bless couples who are not considered to be married according to church teaching, including the blessing of same-sex couples.[2][3] Subtitled "On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings", the document is dated 18 December 2023 and was released on the same day. Fiducia supplicans was issued by the Holy See's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and approved with a signature by Pope Francis.[4][5] It was the first declaration issued by the DDF since Dominus Iesus in 2000.[6]

Fiducia supplicans received a wide variety of interpretations.[7] Pope Francis advised that Holy See's bureaucrats should avoid "rigid ideological positions" three days after the document was issued.[8] Fiducia supplicans is viewed as a reversal of a previous 2021 ruling by the same Holy See department that forbade blessing of same-sex couples.

Background

Further information: Pope Francis and LGBT topics

In 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (later renamed the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2022) issued a responsum ad dubium ('response to doubt')[9] that responded in the negative to the question of whether the church has "the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex". The reasons for that answer were set out in an accompanying explanatory note.[6]

Fiducia supplicans is believed to have reversed this 2021 decision.[8][10][11][12]

Contents

Photograph of Pope Francis
Pope Francis (pictured in 2021) signed the declaration.[5]

Fiducia supplicans provides clarifications and reforms on the church's treatment of "irregular relationships", that is, those who establish a monogamous and emotional bond that lasts over time and have not contracted a Catholic marriage. Notably, it allows Catholic priests and deacons to perform "spontaneous blessings" of same-sex couples, as well as opposite-sex couples who are not married, and civilly married couples at least one party of which was previously divorced but has not received an annulment.[13]

The document details that this type of informal and spontaneous blessing is neither a sacrament nor a rite of the Catholic Church, so no special ceremony is performed for it.[1] The document maintains that sexual relations are licit only within marriage, so heterosexual couples are urged to marry and not consider this blessing as an alternative to marriage.[14] All extramarital sexual relations are considered to be sinful by the Church and continue to be so, which is why it is asked for the affect that may exist between the two people of the same sex involved.[15] The sexual attraction between two people of the same sex is not condemned according to the sexual morality of the Catholic Church, but the sexual act is.[10]

Fiducia supplicans does not provide for changes with respect to the institution of marriage in the Catholic Church.[16] Marriage is still understood only as the union between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all kinds of marriages that are not heterosexual and monogamous, such as same-sex marriage, as well as any kind of heterosexual or bisexual bigamy and polygamy.[17][18]

Reaction

Catholic leaders

In Belgium, Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny praised the decision as "moving towards" future recognition of same-sex sacramental marriage in the Catholic Church.[19] According to Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg, the document basically means that "one can no longer say no" to blessing same-sex unions.[20] Geert De Kerpel, the spokesperson for the Belgian Catholic Church, stated that it would not have an impact locally, as same-sex unions were already being blessed, but that the declaration would rightfully now apply this situation at an international level.[21] James Martin, an American Jesuit priest, called the declaration "a major step forward in the church's ministry to LGBTQ people" and demonstrated the church affirming same-sex couples' desire "for God's presence and help in their committed and loving relationships".[10][22] The next day, he blessed a married same-sex couple.[22]

In India, Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Bombay – who is one of the Cardinal Advisers – said that asking for and giving blessings is a widely accepted custom, a "natural" for India, calling it "an affirmation of our spirituality and a gift". He clarified that the Church doctrine of a marriage has not changed and Fiducia supplicans is not a step forward towards giving a sacramental marriage. He added that Fiducia supplicans is consistent with his own pastoral practice with the LGBTQ+ community.[23][24] Archbishop Victor Lyngdoh of Shillong, issued a letter to the clergy and followers, reiterating the sentiments of Fiducia supplicans. While he underscored that the blessing should not be misconstrued as the Church's blessings conferred during marriage, he drew on Pope Francis's, urging faithful to "avoid being 'judges who only deny, reject, and exclude'".[25][26]

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement saying the declaration made "a distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings",[27] and that the declaration affirmed that "[t]he Church's teaching on marriage has not changed".[27] American bishop Robert Barron – who serves as the chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth – said the declaration did not demonstrate a change in Catholic doctrine on sexuality and marriage.[28] The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops also said that the document affirms church teaching on marriage "explicitly".[29] Danish bishop Czeslaw Kozon said that there was a problem not with the content of the statement "but the way it will be received and interpreted".[30] The president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, Bishop Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi said: "What people do not understand is that if a gay couple goes to the priest to bless them, and the pope says yes, you are blessing the people and not the union".[30]

However, the declaration sparked controversy and criticism among conservative Catholics,[31][32][33] who worry the decision is a step towards the Catholic Church changing its long-held stance against homosexuality.[34] The Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana in Kazakhstan condemned Fiducia supplicans, with Archbishop Tomasz Peta and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider denouncing it for contradicting "divine revelation and the uninterrupted, bimillennial doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church"; they forbade any priest from performing such blessings.[35][36] Schneider added that Fiducia supplicans was a "great deception" and warned of "evil that resides in the very permission to bless [...] same-sex couples".[34] The Episcopal Conference of Malawi also prohibited the implementation of the Vatican's declaration, stating that "blessings of any kind and for same sex unions of any kind, are not permitted in Malawi."[37] Similarly, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Namibia Conference of Catholic Bishops rejected application of the declaration to avoid breaching local laws and to avoid any lack of clarity in pastoral practice.[38] Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, invoked the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in saying the declaration only applied to the Latin Church.[39] The conservative Polish Episcopal Conference said any sex outside of a heterosexual marriage is "always an offense against God's will".[34] Likewise, the Episcopal Conference of Hungary barred such blessings.[40] German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller said the church "cannot celebrate one thing and teach another".[34]

In an interview, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the DDF and an author of the document, explained that such blessings applied to couples and that "the union is not blessed, for the reasons that the declaration repeatedly explains about the true meaning of Christian marriage and sexual relations".[18]

LGBT rights associations within the Church

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the advocacy group New Ways Ministry, which serves LGBT Catholics, praised the document's passages that urged not subjecting couples seeking blessings to "an exhaustive moral analysis". He said the declaration's importance "cannot be overstated".[10] DeBernardo had met with Pope Francis in October 2023.[41]

The Portuguese LGBT Catholic association Rumos Novos expressed skepticism over Fiducia supplicans in a press statement, stating the declaration had brought "absolutely nothing [new]" to the table compared to previous statements by Catholic institutions, and was "another blow to the [opportunities to build] bridges with the ones who are and keep being on the margins".[42]

Outside of the Catholic Church

American evangelist Franklin Graham,[43] and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler were critical.[44]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wooden, Cindy (18 December 2023). "Doctrinal dicastery explains how, when gay couples can be blessed". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  2. ^ Flynn, JD (22 December 2023). "Is the 'false narrative' narrative a false narrative?". The Pillar. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  3. ^ Liedl, Jonathan (18 December 2023). "Vatican Says Priests Can Bless Same-Sex Couples Without Condoning Their Lifestyles". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023.
  4. ^ Faiola, Anthony; Pitrelli, Stefano (18 December 2023). "Pope Francis allows blessings of same-sex couples, shifting Vatican guidance". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b Pinedo, Peter (21 December 2023). "More bishops voice criticism—and support—for Vatican document on blessing same-sex couples". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b Coppen, Luke (18 December 2023). "'Fiducia supplicans': What does it say?". The Pillar. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  7. ^ Pinedo, Peter (21 December 2023). "More bishops voice criticism – and support – for Vatican document on blessing same-sex couples". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b Winfield, Nicole (21 December 2023). "After approving blessings for same-sex couples, Pope asks Vatican staff to avoid 'rigid ideologies'". AP News. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ^ Hudson, Patrick (18 December 2023). "DDF declaration opens door to blessings for 'irregular' couples". The Tablet. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d Pullella, Philip (18 December 2023). "Vatican approves blessings for same-sex couples in landmark ruling". Reuters. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  11. ^ Weber, Peter (19 December 2023). "The Vatican's same-sex blessing approval: What is Pope Francis doing?". The Week. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023. The declaration from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith supersedes a 2021 document that rejected the idea of blessing same-sex unions, because "God cannot bless sin."
  12. ^ Faiola, Anthony (19 December 2023). "Pope Francis allows blessings of same-sex couples, shifting Vatican guidance". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Fiducia supplicans". Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  14. ^ Martin S.J., James (18 December 2023). "Pope Francis' same-sex blessings declaration is a major step forward for LGBTQ Catholics". America. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023.
  15. ^ Flynn, J.D. (18 December 2023). "The 'spirit' of 'Fiducia supplicans'". The Pillar. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Doctrinal declaration opens possibility to bless couples in irregular situations". Vatican News. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  17. ^ Arnold, Tyler (18 December 2023). "US Bishops: Vatican Declaration on Blessings Does Not Change Church Teaching on Marriage". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b Beltrán, Edgar (23 December 2023). "Cardinal Fernández: Same-sex blessing 'does not validate or justify anything'". The Pillar. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  19. ^ Minten, Dominique (18 December 2023). "Bonny tevreden dat priesters homokoppels mogen zegenen: "Helpt ons vooruit"". De Standaard (in Flemish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  20. ^ Lackner, Franz (19 December 2023). "Lackner: Segenswunsch eines gleichgeschlechtlichen Paares nachkommen". Catholic Church in Austria. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  21. ^ Le Bacq, Tom (18 December 2023). ""Ik ben er zeker van dat dit de paus niet overal in dank zal worden afgenomen": ook homokoppels kunnen voortaan gezegend worden". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  22. ^ a b Harmon, Amy; Graham, Ruth; Nir, Sarah Maslin (19 December 2023). "Making History on a Tuesday Morning, With the Church's Blessing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  23. ^ Caldwell, Simon (29 December 2023). "Rift widens over gay blessings as Hungarian bishops reject them but Indian cardinal says yes". Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023.
  24. ^ Carvalho, Nirmala (29 December 2023). "Cardinal says Vatican doc on same-sex blessings a 'natural' for India". Crux. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023.
  25. ^ Karmakar, Rahul (22 December 2023). "Catholic same-sex couples can now be blessed in Meghalaya". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023.
  26. ^ Kalita, Prabin (24 December 2023). "Meghalaya Catholic priests can 'bless' same sex-couples sans marriage rite". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Statement of USCCB on Vatican's Document Addressing Pastoral Blessings". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Press release). Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  28. ^ "Bishop Barron Says New Vatican Document Affirms Church's Timeless Teaching on Marriage". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Press release). Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  29. ^ "Statement of CCCB on Vatican's Document Addressing Pastoral Blessings". Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  30. ^ a b Coppen, Luke (19 December 2023). "'Fiducia supplicans': Who's saying what?". The Pillar. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  31. ^ Drehle, David Von (19 December 2023). "Bless this pope for blessing the blessing of same-sex couples". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  32. ^ Graham, Ruth (18 December 2023). "American Catholics Split on Pope's Blessing for Gay Couples". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  33. ^ Philips, Aleks (19 December 2023). "Bishop Strickland Goes to War With Pope Francis". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  34. ^ a b c d Imray, Gerald (22 December 2023). "Some Catholic bishops reject Pope's stance on blessings for same-sex couples. Others are confused". AP News. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  35. ^ Schneider, Athanasius; Peta, Tomasz (20 December 2023). "Archdiocese Condemns "Evil" Vatican Document and Prohibits Same-sex Blessings". OnePeterFive. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  36. ^ Montagna, Diane (20 December 2023). "Archbishop prohibits priests from 'performing any form of blessing' of same-sex couples in response to new Vatican declaration". Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  37. ^ ""Blessings for same sex unions of any kind are not permitted in Malawi": Catholic Bishops". ACI Africa. 19 December 2023. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  38. ^ "Biskupské konferencie po celom svete vyjadrili odmietavý postoj proti udeľovaniu požehnania homosexuálnym párom" [Episcopal conference around the world expressed rejection against conferring blessings over homosexual couples.]. Štandard (in Slovak). 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  39. ^ "Top Ukraine prelate says Vat doc on same-sex blessings applies only to Latin church". Crux. 23 December 2023. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  40. ^ Elhabbal, Madalaine (27 December 2023). "Hungarian Bishop Conference Instructs Priests to 'Avoid Common Blessing for Couples'". CatholicVote org. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  41. ^ Horowitz, Jason (21 December 2023). "Pope's Shift on Gay Couples Followed Quiet Talks and Loud Resistance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  42. ^ "Associação de católicos LGBTQIA+ "desapontada" com declaração Fiducia Supplicans". Sete Margens (in European Portuguese). 19 December 2023. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  43. ^ Qunitanilla, Milton (21 December 2023). "Franklin Graham Denounces Pope for Approving Blessings of Same-Sex Couples". Christian Headlines. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  44. ^ Mohler, Albert (19 December 2023). "Did Pope Francis Really Give Blessing to Same-Sex Couples? The Complicated Disaster of the News Coming Out of the Vatican". The Briefing. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
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