The publication of Fiducia supplicans (18 December 2023) is stirring a hot debate. Some say that nothing changed; others say that all changed. The declaration came from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the former Inquisition), with explicit approval from Pope Francis.
It provides ‘the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex’ (n. 31). The Vatican document also says that there is no question of recognizing gay unions as marriage, that Catholic doctrine on marriage, sex and sexuality does not change, that the blessing is not a sacrament but a sacramental, that it has no liturgical official setting … all important, yet secondary, doctrinal clarifications that do not modify the main point. What had never been officialised in a magisterial document is now part of Rome’s teaching.
In the Presentation, Cardinal Fernández, the Prefect of the Congregation, says the document is ‘a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings, permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings’. The Vatican is aware of ‘innovation’ here, i.e. something never stated before. It also clarifies that it only refers to the ‘pastoral meaning of blessings’, i.e. not involving a sacrament (like marriage). It’s another type of blessing, but a blessing, nonetheless. Therefore, there is innovation within limits.
Roman Catholics continue to ask themselves whether Fiducia supplicans is consistent with the previous magisterium or is in open conflict with it. There are those who hoped for this opening (and perhaps expected more from it), considering it an advancement of Catholic morality toward greater inclusiveness, and those who see it as a sign of downgrade. For example, the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Cameroun, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Angola, Mozambique and Sao Tomé plus those of Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary have made clear that they will not apply the document, considering it confusing and misleading. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, a former Prefect of the same Congregation, has called the blessings envisioned by Fiducia supplicans ‘blasphemy’.
Other Catholic observers maintain a lowkey approach, saying there is no big deal in the document. By its nature, Roman Catholicism is constantly on the move to possibly encompass the whole world within the institutional-sacramental structures of its Roman system. Not being hinged on and guided by the Biblical gospel, Roman Catholicism fluctuates between asserting its Roman power and accentuating its Catholic embrace.
Fiducia supplicans is the icing on the cake of Francis’s pontificate. It fits his insistence that we are ‘all brothers’ (Christians, non-Christians, atheists and agnostics: everyone), and the Catholic Church is the ‘field hospital’ for all, whatever their lifestyles and convictions.
