Two busy weeks after issuing its document on blessings for those in homosexual relationships—“Fiducia Supplicans”—the Vatican is on the defensive as opposition from national bishops’ conferences, prominent members of the Catholic hierarchy, religious orders and associations of priests has continued mounting.
Released on Dec. 18, 2023, “Fiducia Supplicans” exemplifies Pope Francis’s approach to doctrines that Catholic theology considers infallible (unable to be changed even by a pope or council of all bishops) but with which he is uncomfortable—in this case the doctrine that homosexual acts are serious sins.
Issued by a department of the church’s central governance called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the document’s status is “official” but not “infallible.”
It is also precisely worded, facilitating de facto acceptance of homosexual relationships while maintaining that [technically] blessings given to same-sex couples are not intended to bless or sanction their relationships.
By Dec. 22, the opposition was becoming overwhelming—with bishops’ conferences from Canada, Croatia, Poland, Ukraine—and no less than 12 African countries—effectively rejecting “Fiducia Supplicans.”
They were joined by at least half a dozen dioceses from various countries.
Some issued statements condemning the Vatican document outright.
Others prohibited blessings for same-sex couples because they would inevitably be interpreted as approving that “Fiducia Supplicans” claims are not intended.
Zagreb’s Archbishop Drazen Kutlesa, president of the Croatian bishops conference, creatively interpreted the declaration to mean that: “If someone is in a certain state, especially a sinful one, then the church wants to have special care and attention for that person.”
Prominent individuals weighed in.
German Cardinal Gerhard Muller—former head of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith—published a long critique and referred to blessing same-sex couples as blasphemous.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar, asked that all the continent’s bishops’ conferences join those that had already taken a public stand—writing that: “The ambiguity of this [Vatican] declaration—which lends itself to many interpretations & manipulations—is causing much perplexity among the faithful and I believe that ... we need to speak out clearly on this issue in order to give clear guidance to our Christians.”
Archbishop Charles Chaput, long one of America’s most prominent prelates, wrote that “Fiducia Supplicans” is “a doubleminded exercise in simultaneously affirming and undercutting Catholic teaching on the nature of blessings and their application to ‘irregular’ relationships.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, known to be dominated by men critical of Pope Francis’s initiative, issued a tepid statement merely saying the document did not change Catholic doctrine.
Further opposition came from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church—the largest of several “Eastern Rites” which are under papal jurisdiction but have their own bishops and dioceses, as well as unique forms of Mass which developed in various parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Now spread to various parts of the world, the Ukrainian Rite simply insisted that “Fiducia Supplicans” does not apply to it.
That reaction combined with extensive grassroots opposition quickly led even some of the most “gay-friendly” members of the Catholic hierarchy to backtrack.
On the day “Fiducia Supplicans” was issued, Salzburg Archbishop Franz Lacker, president of the Austrian bishops’ conference, was not only expressing enthusiasm for it and speaking positively of homosexual relationships but insisting that it would be virtually impossible for priests to refuse to bless same-sex couples.
Two days later his archdiocesan spokesman reversed course, saying that: “No personal obligation can be derived from a general openness [to bless same-sex couples] for each individual case.”
Facing widespread opposition, Cardinal Victor Manual Fernandez—head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith since July of 2023—attempted damage control in an interview he gave to the Catholic news website “The Pillar” published on Dec. 23.
Virtually everyone on every side of this issue interpreted the document largely as a move towards a softer approach to homosexual relationships—an impression strengthened by the contrast between it and a condemnation of blessing same-sex couples which was issued by Cardinal Fernandez’s immediate predecessor (Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer) and with which Pope Francis was reported to be displeased.
Cardinal Fernandez stressed a goal critics would agree with—that “Fiducia Supplicans” was partly intended to prevent a handful of European dioceses and bishops’ conferences from instituting formal, marriage-like rituals for same-sex couples and that he would be personally discussing the matter with certain German bishops who have virulently rejected traditional Catholic beliefs.
The cardinal also attempted to put a most implausible spin on the declarations of African bishops.
Cameroon’s bishops stated that homosexual actions are “sterile, hedonistic and perverse” and “clear signs of the implosive decadence of civilizations.”
They also insisted that: “Rejecting it is in no way discrimination, but a legitimate protection of the constant values of humanity in the face of a vice that has become the subject of a claim to legal recognition.”
The bishops of Zambia called them “acts of grave depravity,” recommended “listening to our cultural heritage which does not accept same-sex relations” and mentioned, “the law of our country which forbids same-sex unions and activities.”
Cardinal Fernandez presented these African bishops as being in agreement with him, claiming that: “I well understand the concern of the bishops in some African or Asian countries, in places where being gay might put you in prison.
“It is an affront to human dignity that certainly distresses the bishops, and challenges them in their fatherhood. It is likely that the bishops do not want to expose homosexual persons to violence.”
Cardinal Fernandez’s comments have done nothing to halt the avalanche of opposition.
Several more national bishops’ conferences have issued statements, as have American, Australian, and English Confraternities of Catholic Clergy, at least two religious orders, and several cardinals appointed by Pope Francis—including Uruguay’s Cardinal Daniel Sturla and Singapore’s Cardinal William Seng Chye.
With Pope Francis’s initiative having failed and pundits speculating about its impact on the conclave that will elect his successor, Vatican bureaucrats are dealing with what is becoming an unmanageable flood of communications from same-sex couples requesting the pope’s blessing.
