As you probably know, the Vatican Office for the Doctrine of the Faith recently issued a declaration entitled Fiducia Supplicans in response to questions that had been raised over the past several years regarding same-sex couples. You may also have read about the controversy that this declaration has raised throughout the Church around the world. In case you haven’t read it, I would like to offer a summary of this declaration and some reflections about it.
The document begins with an introductory Presentation that offers the context for this declaration. It offers a clear assurance that it “remains firm in 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” (§ 3). It then explains that the “value of this document, however, 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. Such 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” (§ 3).
An Introduction follows in which the document reiterates the longstanding Church’s teaching that “from a strictly liturgical point of view, a blessing requires that what is blessed be conformed to God’s will” (§ 9). It goes on to state:
- Indeed, blessings are celebrated by virtue of faith and are ordered to the praise of God and the spiritual benefit of his people. As the Book of Blessings explains, “so that this intent might become more apparent, by an ancient tradition, the formulas of blessings are primarily aimed at giving glory to God for his gifts, asking for his favors, and restraining the power of evil in the world.” Therefore, those who invoke God’s blessing through the Church are invited to “strengthen their dispositions through faith, for which all things are possible” and to trust in “the love that urges the observance of God’s commandments.” This is why, while “there is always and everywhere an opportunity to praise God through Christ, in the Holy Spirit,” there is also a care to do so with “things, places or circumstances that do not contradict the law or the spirit of the Gospel.” This is the liturgical understanding of the blessing insofar as they are rites officially proposed by the Church.
- Basing itself on these considerations, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Explanatory Note to its 2021 Responsum recalls that when a blessing is invoked on certain human relationships by a special liturgical rite, it is necessary that what is blessed corresponds with God’s designs written in creation and fully revealed by Christ the Lord. 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.
On the other hand, the document continues:
- One must also avoid the risk of reducing the meaning of blessings to this point of view alone, for it would lead us to expect the same moral conditions for a simple blessing that are called for in the reception of the sacraments. Such a risk requires that we broaden this perspective further. Indeed, there is the danger that a pastoral gesture that is so beloved and widespread will be subjected to too many moral prerequisites, which, under the claim of control, could overshadow the unconditional power of God’s love that forms the basis for the gesture of blessing.
- Precisely in this regard, Pope Francis urges us not to “lose pastoral charity, which should peremeate all our decisions and attitude” and to avoid being “judges who only deny, reject and exclude.”
The document next offers several examples of blessings found in Sacred Scripture and then presents a Theological-Pastoral Understanding of Blessings:
- One who asks for a blessing shows himself to be in need of God’s saving presence in his life and one who asks for a blessing from the Church recognizes the latter as a sacrament of the salvation that God offers. To seek a blessing in the Church is to acknowledge that the life of the Church springs from the womb of God’s mercy and helps us to move forward, to live better, and to respond to God’s will.
After offering a reflection on the difference between ascending and descending blessings, the document addresses the specific issue of blessing couples in irregular situations and couples of the same sex:
- Indeed, the grace of God works in the lives of those who do not claim to be righteous but who acknowledge themselves humbly as sinners, like everyone else. This grace can orient everything according to the mysterious and unpredictable designs of God. Therefore, with its untiring wisdom and motherly care, the Church welcomes all who approach God with humble hearts, accompanying them with those spiritual aids that enable everyone to understand and realize God’s will fully in their existence.
The document then ends with:
- What has been said in this Declaration regarding blessings of same-sex couples is sufficient to guide the prudent and fatherly discernment of ordained ministers in this regard. Thus, beyond the guidance provided above, no further responses should be expected about possible ways to regulate details or practicalities regarding blessings of this type.
I have prayerfully read and re-read this declaration. Compared to the countless other official Vatican documents I have studied, I find this one to be uncharacteristically confusing and wonder what its purpose will serve. While I understand our Holy Father’s desire to offer God’s support to those who are struggling in their lives, I find that this document darkens the landscape. Let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and the Church which is supposed to clearly present the Light of Christ.