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January 18, 2024On Dec. 18, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration entitled Fiducia Supplicans where the media coverage may have caused some confusion. The declaration reaffirms the Church’s traditional understanding and teaching on marriage as an unbreakable bond between a man and a woman.
There are several new elements in this document, however. It affirms that a priest may give a non-liturgical blessing to persons in same-sex relationships or other irregular situations such as those involving divorced or cohabiting couples who spontaneously seek a blessing as an expression of their desire to grow closer to God. It must not resemble a wedding in any manner either through gestures, ritual language or special clothing.
This is an effort on the part of the pope and the Church’s ministers to accompany persons in such situations and extend to them an authentic expression of the Church’s pastoral care for them. It expresses the desire that all might come to a closer relationship with God.
As Pope Francis has expressed previously, God cannot bless sin, but fortunately for all of us he desires to bless sinners and reconcile them to himself. He calls us all to repentance and conversion of life.
-Most Reverend Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City
