Pastor’s Corner — December 31st, 2023
Did the Church Just Endorse Same-Sex Unions?
No. But you wouldn’t know that if you read the predictably misleading mainstream media headlines. On Dec. 18th, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a Declaration titled Fiducia supplicans that explains how a priest offering a blessing to people who are in pursuit of holiness is not the same as condoning or blessing sin in their life. Back in 2021, the Church authoritatively declared that it cannot bless same-sex unions because “[God] does not and cannot bless sin.” In this new document the Church simply outlines how priests can offer individual people blessings who are desiring holiness (in this case, those who are in same-sex relationships), while at the same time not at all endorsing or condoning their sin. Unfortunately, because of the media’s take on this, the theology and reasoning of the Church on this in the above document will likely be overlooked.
The legitimate concern that some people may have is that some priests and bishops will not call sinners to repentance and bless same-sex couples in such a way that causes them to think the Church is okay with their lifestyle. While the document expressly forbids this, we need to remember that clergy who don’t want to be obedient to the Church are to blame, not the Church’s clear teaching here.
Rather than writing out more on this, I want to quote in full what was sent to us priests by the Diocese on December 19th, “Statements of USCCB and Diocese of Lansing on Vatican’s Document Addressing Pastoral Blessings”:
In response to the Declaration Fiducia supplicans issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith yesterday, December 18, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement yesterday from its spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public af airs.
“The Declaration issued today [December 18] by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) articulated a distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to persons who desire God’s loving grace in their lives. The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration af irms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.”
Meanwhile, the Diocese of Lansing’s Director of Marriage & Family Life, Richard Budd, said December 19:
“As the US Conference of Catholic Bishops have clarified, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s declaration Fiducia supplicans changes nothing regarding the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage, the family or same-sex relations. As the document itself confirms, these teachings are good, true and beautiful and can neither change nor be changed.”
“What the document clarifies is the question of what a priest should do if people approach him for a spontaneous blessing and, thus, ‘show by this request their sincere openness to transcendence, the confidence of their hearts that they do not trust in their own strength alone, their need for God, and their desire to break out of the narrow confines of this world, enclosed in its limitations’.”
“In this circumstance the non-liturgical blessing of the priest is a pastorally-sensitive means of imparting supernatural grace upon those who are sincerely seeking God’s will in their life. Most likely, this is what many good and holy priests already do. What clerics are not being asked, nor expected to do, is to bless immorality which would, obviously, be a contradiction in terms.”
“Indeed, as Fiducia supplicans says ‘there is no intention to legitimize anything, but rather to open one’s life to God, to ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness’.”
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias