Just weeks after issuing a controversial document dealing with the topic of blessing homosexual couples—“Fiducia Supplicans”—on Dec. 18, 2023, the Vatican has effectively surrendered in the face of mounting worldwide opposition.
It has approved a document issued by the Symposium of Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) declaring such blessings will not be given anywhere on the continent.
The African bishops’ document—titled “No Blessings for Homosexual Couples in the African Churches: Synthesis of the Responses from the African Episcopal Conferences to the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans”—was issued on Jan. 11, 2024, and begins by noting that the Vatican declaration has “caused a shockwave,” “sown misconceptions and unrest in the minds of many lay faithful consecrated persons [members of religious order] and even pastors” and “aroused strong reactions.”
It does this to take advantage of the letter of “Fiducia Supplicans” in order to repudiate that Vatican document’s spirit.
What “Fiducia Supplicans” strictly says boils down to the idea that if two people ask a blessing for what the church considers a good purpose—that is if they were severely injured in a car crash and God is being asked to help them recover—they can receive it regardless of whether they are in a relationship of which the church disapproves.
The wording is crafted to suggest an indulgent view of homosexual unions.
More than that, “Fiducia Supplicans” was a sort of culmination of Pope Francis’s efforts to put into practice a policy suggested by his ally Cardinal Walter Kasper at a consistory of the full college of cardinals in February of 2014—that of “tolerating” deviations from Catholic sexual morality in practice without “approving” them in theory.
Eight months after Cardinal Kasper’s view was rejected by his fellow cardinals at that consistory, he and the pope attempted to have it accepted by a Synod of Bishops putatively focused on “Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.”
With strong opposition among synod bishops, Cardinal Kasper told reporter Edward Pentin that African bishops have a “taboo” about homosexual unions and therefore “should not tell us too much what we have to do”—sparking further criticism from the continent’s episcopate that deepened when an audio recording of Cardinal Kasper’s remarks was made public after he had insisted news reports of them were false.
Similar efforts continued with the Vatican’s 2023 Synod on Synodality.
Pope Francis’s measures included: Appointing two cardinals indulgent towards homosexual union—Jean-Claude Hollerich and Mario Grech—to the important posts of Relator General and Pro-Secretary General.
Changing the rules of the synod to allow (largely papally appointed) Catholic laity to take part and to vote after bishops’ conferences throughout the world had largely elected as their representatives to the synod men committed to traditional Catholic morality.
Giving high-profile support to leading activists advocating acceptance of homosexual relationships by the church.
While there are few reports as to what took place within the synod discussions—due to requirements of secrecy—participants have revealed sharp disagreements and considerable opposition to the indulgence of same-sex couples.
Bishops throughout the world immediately saw that “Fiducia Supplicans” was aimed at securing what the synod could not do through the transparent ruse of ambiguous language and subtle technicalities.
According to Peter Kwasnieski—a theologian and philosopher who has taught for the International Theological Institute, Franciscan University, Wyoming Catholic College and published nearly two dozen books—this was: “Clearly a bridge too far for many, many Catholics” regardless of whether they would ordinarily be thought of as “traditionalist” or “conservative.”
The result has been widespread repudiation of “Fiducia Supplicans” by Catholic prelates, forcing the Vatican to retreat to the point that, according to Mr. Kwasniewski, “everything the Vatican has been doing since Dec. 18 has been damage control” with “[Vatican Cardinal] Fernandez [who issued “Fiducia Supplicans” as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of DDF] giving up more and more ground.”
First came an interview Cardinal Fernandez gave on Dec. 23. Next was an official communique he issued on Jan. 4.
Each attempt to calm the waters was met by broadening resistance as additional bishops’ conferences and dioceses announced non-compliance.
On the very same day as Cardinal Fernandez’s communique was issued, an entire province of bishops in France instructed priests to refrain from giving joint blessing to homosexual couples—suggesting each person could receive an individual blessing to stress that their relationships are neither accepted nor sanctioned by the church.
On Jan. 6 mounting opposition was endorsed by one of the most powerful voices in the Catholic Church, that of Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah—who served for seven years as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship after being appointed to that post by Pope Francis himself in 2014.
Within two days whatever ability Cardinal Fernandez still had to weather the storm received a further blow when it was revealed that he had once published a book—“The Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality”—criticized as bordering on the pornographic.
By Jan. 11, Pope Francis and Cardinal Fernandez gave full approval to a SECAM document, described by Mr. Kwasniewski as a case of the African bishops “being as diplomatic as they can” while “decisively setting aside Fiducia Supplicans altogether.”
They did that by demolishing the gay-friendly implications of “Fiducia Supplicans” by unequivocally affirming that homosexuals must be reminded that “unions of persons of the same sex are contrary to the will of God and therefore cannot receive the blessing of the church”—and that The Bible considers such relationships an abomination so severe that it can even “lead to the destruction of the city [Sodom]”—and added two further crucial points.
One is that “Fiducia Supplicans … is not intended to mandate that there be blessings for … same-sex couples” and “offers the possibility of these blessings but does not impose them.”
That may not seem like much. But a notable if limited minority of Catholic bishops throughout the world take strong “pro-gay” stances.
For the Vatican to approve a document affirming that the giving of such blessing cannot be imposed provides priests subject to such bishops with perfect grounds for refusing to give them.
Another goes to the heart of the matter, insisting that: “The language of Fiducia Supplicans remains too subtle for simple people to understand.”
Since confusing subtly was the whole point, Vatican approval of the SECAM document meant securing “acceptance” of “Fiducia Supplicans” only by allowing it to be reduced to meaninglessness as part of a face-saving facade.
“Fiducia Supplicans” can still give priests who wish to bless homosexual couples the cover and the assurance of Vatican support they need to do so with relative impunity and strengthens the position of the handful of bishops’ conferences and dioceses that have taken pro-gay positions.
It has even been announced that such blessings will be permitted in Saint Peter’s Basilica.
But the Vatican has effectively admitted that its own weakness, limited support, and widespread opposition have made enforcement of “Fiducia Supplicans” impossible.
