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 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 has been widely interpreted.[7] Pope Francis advised that the Holy See's bureaucrats should avoid "rigid ideological positions" three days after the document was issued.[8] Prefect of the DDF Víctor Manuel Fernández later said in an interview that the declaration did not permit blessing the unions, with a DDF press release in January 2024 repeating this. Fiducia supplicans is considered a reversal of a previous 2021 ruling by the same Holy See department which forbade the blessing of same-sex couples.

Background

Before 2021, several dioceses had permitted the blessing of same-sex couples, including Linz in Austria and Basel in Switzerland.[9][10] On 15 March 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (renamed the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2022) issued a responsum ad dubium ("response to doubt")[11] 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". Fiducia supplicans is perceived to have reversed this 2021 decision.[8][12][13][14]

On 25 September 2023, in another responsum to conservative cardinals before the World Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis signalled the Church's openness to blessings for gay couples as long as they did not misrepresent the Catholic view of marriage as between one man and one woman.[15][16]

Notwithstanding the 2021 responsum, several bishops' conferences had moved towards blessings for same-sex unions. In September 2022, over 80% of German bishops at the Synodal Way supported a document calling for a "re-evaluation of homosexuality" and modifying the Catechism of the Catholic Church,[17][18] and Flemish bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Belgium published a liturgical document for the blessing of same-sex unions.[19][20][21] After the Synodal Path, the first German dioceses started blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in March 2023, including the dioceses of Osnabrück,[22][23] Essen,[24] Speyer,[25] and Berlin.[26]

Contents

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

Fiducia supplicans provides clarification and reforms on the Catholic 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.[27]

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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[12]

Fiducia supplicans does not provide for changes with respect to the institution of marriage in the Catholic Church.[30] 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.[31] In a December 2023 interview, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the DDF, 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".[32]

Press release

On 4 January 2024, the DDF published a press release in response to the reactions that Fiducia supplicans had triggered. The press release maintained support for the document, while attempting to clarify issues surrounding its reception and implementation.[33][34] The press release summarized the blessings that Fiducia supplicans was intended to permit as "short and simple pastoral blessings (neither liturgical nor ritualized) of couples in irregular situations (but not of their unions)".[35]

Responding to episcopal conferences that restricted the issuing of blessings in their dioceses, the press release said that in some dioceses "it will be necessary not to introduce [blessings], while taking the time necessary for reading and interpretation", recognising the "strong cultural and even legal issues" that allowed bishops' restrictions to be "understood in their contexts". The press release emphasized that "pastoral blessings", which last "about 10 or 15 seconds", "[do] not justify anything that is not morally acceptable". It provided an example of a blessing a priest could use:[36]

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.

The press release clarified that blessings "must not take place in a prominent place within a sacred building, or in front of an altar, as this also would create confusion". It suggested some catechesis to "help everyone to understand that these types of blessings are not an endorsement of the life led by those who request them", reiterating that they are "simple expressions of pastoral closeness that do not impose the same requirements as a sacrament or a formal rite" and a priest that imparts such blessings "is not a heretic, he is not ratifying anything nor is he denying Catholic doctrine". The press release said that "this paternal gesture" could not be denied only because it was requested by "a great sinner".[36]

Reaction

Supporters

In Belgium, Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny praised the decision as "moving towards" future recognition of same-sex sacramental marriage in the Catholic Church.[37] According to Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg, the document basically means that "one can no longer say no" to blessing same-sex unions.[38] 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.[39] 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".[12][40] The next day, he blessed a married same-sex couple.[40]

In India, Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Bombay – one of Francis's cardinal advisers – expressed that seeking and bestowing blessings is a deeply ingrained custom in India, describing it as a "natural" practice that resonates with the spirituality of the region and deeming it "an affirmation of our spirituality and a gift." While Gracias clarified that the Church's stance on the doctrine of marriage remains unchanged, emphasizing that Fiducia supplicans does not signify a move toward recognizing same-sex unions as sacramental marriages, he highlighted the alignment of Fiducia supplicans with his own pastoral approach toward the LGBTQ+ community.[41][42] 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'".[43][44]

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement saying the declaration made "a distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings",[45] and that the declaration affirmed that "[t]he Church's teaching on marriage has not changed".[45] 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.[46] The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops also said that the document affirms church teaching on marriage "explicitly".[47] 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".[48] 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".[48]

Criticism

The declaration sparked considerable controversy and criticism among Catholics, including from several conservative commentators, clerical congregations, and high-profile bishops, priests, and lay people.[48][49] Several episcopal conferences barred the blessings in their jurisdictions or asked priests to refrain from them, including the conferences of Benin, Congo-Brazzaville,[50] Hungary,[51] Malawi,[52] Namibia,[53] Togo,[50] and Zambia.[53] The Polish Episcopal Conference suggested only blessing "individual people living in complete abstinence".[54][55]

Forbidding blessings in the Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana in Kazakhstan, Archbishop Tomasz Peta and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider denounced Fiducia supplicans for contradicting "divine revelation and the uninterrupted, bimillennial doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church".[56][57] Schneider added that Fiducia supplicans was a "great deception" and warned of "evil that resides in the very permission to bless [...] same-sex couples".[49] German cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller said that the declaraion was "sacrilegious and blasphemous",[58] and that the Catholic Chuch "cannot celebrate one thing and teach another".[49] Cardinal Robert Sarah, former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, called the declaration "a heresy that seriously undermines the Church".[59]

Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the Major Archbishop of Kyiv–Galicia and Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, stated that the declaration concerns purely the Latin Church and had no legal force in 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches.[60][61]

Several figures associated with traditionalist Catholicism rejected the declaration, including Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States,[62] and YouTube commentator Taylor Marshall.[63]

Christians outside the Catholic Church

American evangelist Franklin Graham,[64] and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler were critical.[65] Carl Trueman expressed concern that contemporary conservative Protestants in the West would be less able to shelter under the Roman Catholic Church's cultural umbrella as a result of Fiducia supplicans.[66]

Aftermath

At a closed-door meeting with 800 Roman clergy on 13 January 2023, Pope Francis stated that homosexual individuals could be blessed, but not LGBT associations. He added the reason why the measure on the blessings of same-sex couples was rejected in Africa was that "[t]he culture [in Africa] does not accept it". He added as a comparison on blessing homosexuals: "When we bless an entrepreneur, we do not ask if he has stolen".[67]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. ↑ 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. 1 2 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. ↑ "Zum Valentinstag: Katholische Diözese segnet auch Homo-Paare". Queer.de (in German). 14 February 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Ring, Trudy (13 September 2019). "Swiss Catholic Diocese OK With Marriage Equality, Sort Of". Advocate. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Hudson, Patrick (18 December 2023). "DDF declaration opens door to blessings for 'irregular' couples". The Tablet. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Pullella, Philip (18 December 2023). "Vatican approves blessings for same-sex couples in landmark ruling". Reuters. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  13. ↑ 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."
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ McElwee, Joshua J. (2 October 2023). "Pope signals openness to blessings for gay couples, study of women's ordination". National Catholic Reporter. Kansas City: Joe Ferullo. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  16. ↑ Allen, Elise Ann (2 October 2023). "Pope offers cautious 'yes' on blessing some same-sex unions, 'no' on woman priests". Crux. Crux Catholic Media. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Antrag TOP 5.2: Handlungstext "Lehramtliche Neubewertung von Homosexualität"" [Application TOP 5.2: Action text "Magisterial reassessment of homosexuality"] (PDF). Synodal Way. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  18. ↑ "Handlungstext Lehramtliche Neubewertung von Homosexualität" [Action text Magisterial reassessment of homosexuality] (PDF). Synodal Way. 9 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  19. ↑ Pullella, Philip; Campenhout, Charlotte (20 September 2022). "Defying Vatican, Flemish bishops allow blessing same-sex unions". Reuters. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  20. ↑ Carlo, Andrea (20 September 2022). "Belgian bishops agree to bless same-sex unions, defying Vatican". Euronews. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "Homoseksuele personen pastoraal nabij zijn" [Being pastorally close to homosexual persons] (PDF). kerknet (in Dutch). 20 September 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  22. ↑ Evangelisch.de: Bistum Osnabrück erlaubt Segensfeiern für Homo-Paare (German)
  23. ↑ Neues Ruhrwort: Bistum Osnabrück wil Beschlüsse des Synodalen Wegs umsetzen (german)
  24. ↑ Neues Ruhrwort: Overbeck, Segnung homosexueller Paare im Bistum Essen möglich, March 2023
  25. ↑ Katholisch.de: Brief an Seelsorger: Bischof Wiesemann bittet um Segensfeiern für alle 3 November 2023
  26. ↑ Katholisch.de: Erzbischof Koch: Segnung homosexueller Paare im Erzbistum möglich, August 25, 2023
  27. ↑ "Fiducia supplicans". Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ Flynn, J.D. (18 December 2023). "The 'spirit' of 'Fiducia supplicans'". The Pillar. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023.
  30. ↑ "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.
  31. ↑ 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.
  32. ↑ 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.
  33. ↑ CNA. "Vatican responds to widespread backlash on same-sex blessing directive". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  34. ↑ "Vatican says no heresy in allowing blessings for same-sex couples after pushback by some bishops". AP News. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  35. ↑ "DDF clarifies 'Fiducia supplicans' after 'understandable' bishops' reactions". The Pillar. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  36. 1 2 Fernández, Víctor Manuel; Matteo, Armando (4 January 2024). "Press release concerning the reception of Fiducia supplicans (4 January 2024)". Holy See. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  37. ↑ 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.
  38. ↑ 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.
  39. ↑ 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.
  40. 1 2 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.
  41. ↑ 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.
  42. ↑ 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.
  43. ↑ 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.
  44. ↑ 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.
  45. 1 2 "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.
  46. ↑ "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.
  47. ↑ "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.
  48. 1 2 3 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.
  49. 1 2 3 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.
  50. 1 2 Atemanke, Jude (4 January 2024). "Fiducia Supplicans: Plus de réactions des évêques catholiques d'Afrique sur la bénédiction des couples de même sexe" [Fiducia Supplicans: More reactions of African Catholic bishops on the blessings of same-sex couples]. aciafrique (EWTN) (in French). Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  51. ↑ "A Magyar Katolikus Püspöki Konferencia (MKPK) közleménye az áldásokról" [Announcement of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference (MKPK) on blessings]. Magyar Kurír (in Hungarian). 27 December 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024. Hazánk lelkipásztori helyzetét mérlegelve a Püspöki Konferencia útmutatásként fogalmazza meg a lelkipásztorok számára, hogy nemi identitásától és szexuális orientációjától függetlenül egyénenként minden embert megáldhatunk, mindig kerülni kell azonban azt, hogy a pusztán párkapcsolatban együtt élő, az egyházilag nem érvényes házasságban vagy egynemű párkapcsolatban élő párok számára közös áldást adjunk. [Considering the pastoral situation in our country, the Episcopal Conference formulates guidance for pastors, stating that we can bless each person individually, regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation. However, it is always necessary to avoid giving a joint blessing to couples living together in non-church-sanctioned marriages or same-sex partnerships.]
  52. ↑ ""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.
  53. 1 2 "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.
  54. ↑ Gęsiak SJ, Leszek (21 December 2023). "Rzecznik Episkopatu: Deklaracja Fiducia supplicans w niczym nie zmienia dotychczasowego nauczania Kościoła". Polish Episcopal Conference (in Polish). Retrieved 7 January 2024. Zarówno Deklaracja jak i Nota stwierdzają, że "nie wyklucza [się] udzielania błogosławieństwa pojedynczym osobom o skłonnościach homoseksualnych, które przejawiają pragnienie życia w wierności objawionym planom Bożym, tak jak naucza Kościół". Chodzi zatem o pojedyncze osoby żyjące w całkowitej wstrzemięźliwości. [Both the Declaration and the Note state that "the blessing of individual persons with homosexual tendencies who manifest the desire to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God, as taught by the Church, is not excluded." Therefore, we are talking about individual people living in complete abstinence.]
  55. ↑ Arnold, Tyler (22 December 2023). "Polish bishops: Church does not have authority to 'bless same-sex unions'". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 7 January 2024. Catholic bishops in Poland have ruled out the possibility of blessing "same-sex unions" but remain open to blessing individuals with homosexual tendencies, only if they are "living in complete abstinence" of sexual activities. [...] The Polish bishops' statement did not expressly criticize the Vatican declaration but appeared to conflict with the guidance contained within it.
  56. ↑ 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.
  57. ↑ 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.
  58. ↑ Luxmoore, Jonathan (5 January 2024). "Episcopate gives Rome a rough ride over Fiducia Supplicans declaration". Church Times. Retrieved 7 January 2024. Another former Vatican Prefect, German Cardinal Müller, rejected the Declaration on 21 December, however, branding it a "sacrilegious and blasphemous act against the Creator's plan", which "directly contradicted" previous Vatican guidance and was "not based on any church doctrine, biblical teaching, writings by church Fathers or Doctors of the Church".
  59. ↑ Quiñones, Kate (8 January 2024). "Cardinal Sarah speaks out against clergy blessing same-sex unions". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  60. ↑ Staff, Crux (24 December 2023). "Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church announces Fiducia Supplicans 'has no legal force' for its followers". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  61. ↑ Luxmoore, Jonathan (5 January 2024). "Episcopate gives Rome a rough ride over Fiducia Supplicans declaration". Church Times. Retrieved 7 January 2024. Several Orthodox leaders, including Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), formerly the Russian Orthodox Church's Foreign Minister and now Metropolitan of Budapest, have also strongly criticised Fiducia Supplicans, while the Primate of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, Major Archbishop Svetoslav Shevchuk, said in a statement last week that the Declaration would not apply to the world's 23 autonomous Eastern Rite Catholic confessions, which followed separate canonical rules.
  62. ↑ Viganò, Carlo Maria (21 December 2023). "Declaration on "Fiducia supplicans"". EXSURGE DOMINE. Retrieved 7 January 2024. The delirious Declaration Fiducia Supplicans [...] pierces the veil of hypocrisy and deception of the Bergoglian Hierarchy, showing these false shepherds for what they really are: servants of Satan and his most zealous allies, beginning with the usurper who sits - an abomination of desolation - on the Throne of Peter.
  63. ↑ Marshall, Taylor (19 December 2023). "Tweet by Dr Taylor Marshall™️". X. Retrieved 7 January 2024. Every Catholic priest will now be forced to give blessings to same sex couples. If they refuse, they will be reported to diocese & punished. This is a systemic plan to reshape the priesthood globally. Time will prove my observation to be true, unless a future Pope fixes it.
  64. ↑ Webb, Katelyn (19 December 2023). "Franklin Graham says Pope Francis doesn't have the right to bless 'what God calls sin'". The Christian Post. Retrieved 7 January 2024. So-called 'blessings' from religious leaders won't save you from the judgment of God!" wrote Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse. "Pope Francis has now approved Catholic priests' blessing' same-sex couples. But none of us, including the Pope, has the right to 'bless' what God calls sin. 'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…' (Isaiah 5:20).
  65. ↑ Mohler, Albert (19 December 2023). "The Briefing". albertmohler.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024. The bottom line is that this is a disaster. It's a disaster I think on many fronts, but in particular it's a disaster because the impact of this in the larger culture is going to be to add momentum to the very forces that are tearing apart gender, tearing apart sexuality, tearing apart civilization, tearing apart marriage, tearing apart sexual morality, and all the rest.
  66. ↑ Trueman, Carl R (28 December 2023). "The Pope, Same-Sex Blessings, and Protestants". First Things. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  67. ↑ "Il Papa precisa. "Benediciamo le persone, non le organizzazioni Lgbt"" [The Pope clarifies: "We bless people, not LGBT organisations"]. Avvenire (in Italian). 13 January 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
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