December 19, 2023 at 9:17 a.m.
'BROADEN AND ENRICH'
In a statement released Tuesday, Dec. 19, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Albany, echoing the words of fellow experts, said the new Vatican document on pastoral blessings - which opens the door for same-sex couples to receive a blessing - is meant to “broaden and enrich” but does not change the Catholic Church’s teaching on the nature of marriage.
“The Vatican Declaration ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ is a response to a number of questions submitted by several cardinals, concerning specific pastoral questions and situations, particularly regarding blessings. The declaration should therefore be understood as a document to ‘broaden and enrich’ the understanding of the pastoral meaning of blessings, in the light of God’s faithful and merciful love for every person,” Bishop Scharfenberger said in the statement. “The declaration does not change the teaching of the Catholic Church on the nature of marriage which, as stated very clearly in the Declaration, ‘is the exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children.’
“Additionally, the Declaration is not establishing a new liturgical rite or ceremony, nor should simple blessings be confused with the blessings and graces in the reception of a sacrament. Rather, as noted, it ‘invites us to broaden and enrich the meaning of blessings,’ including blessings of couples in irregular situations and couples of the same sex.”
On Dec. 18, the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released the formal declaration "Fiducia Supplicans,” ("Supplicating Trust"), subtitled "On the pastoral meaning of blessings." The text was approved by Pope Francis that same day during an audience with dicastery prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.
In his introductory note to the document, Cardinal Fernández said his office had, over the past few years, repeatedly received questions about priestly blessings for same-sex or other unmarried couples in irregular situations. He wrote that the need for a fuller explanation of blessings became apparent after Pope Francis responded to the "dubia" or questions posed by several cardinals in a letter released in early October.
Bishop Scharfenberger added that the request for a blessing by anyone “assumes a genuine desire to be changed by God.”
“As the Catechism (n. 1078) states, a blessing is a divine and life-giving action. A blessing is, in a way, a response to our request for sanctification and is an amazing and unmerited gift from God. As the Vatican Declaration states, ‘the blessing possesses a special power, which accompanies those who receive it throughout their lives, and disposes man’s heart to be changed by God,’” Bishop Scharfenberger said. “Essentially then, this request and disposition assumes a genuine desire to be changed by God; that is as ‘an act of adoration and surrender to our Creator in thanksgiving’ (CCC 1078). As the declaration goes on to say, ‘when one asks for a blessing, one is expressing a petition for God’s assistance, a plea to live better, and confidence in a Father who can help us live better.’
“Also in the document, ‘People who come spontaneously to ask for a blessing show by this request their sincere openness to transcendence, the confidence of their hearts that they do not trust in their own strength alone, their need for God, and their desire to break out of the narrow confines of this world, enclosed in its limitations.’
Following the declaration's release, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a Dec. 18 statement through its spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, noting "the declaration affirms" that "the Church's teaching on marriage has not changed."
The document "articulated a distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to persons who desire God's loving grace in their lives," said the statement.
At the same time, the USCCB statement said, the text makes "an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God's healing love and mercy in our lives."
Dominican Father Thomas Petri, president of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, told OSV News he agreed with the USCCB's assessment, saying the Vatican declaration "is clear."
"There can be no blessing of same-sex relationships in a way that mimics marriage. There can be no ritual. No vestments. No liturgy. Nothing in conjunction with some recent civil ceremony for a couple," Father Petri told OSV News. "On the contrary, what's suggested only as a pastoral guidance is the possibility that in some profound religious experience, such as on a pilgrimage or at a spiritual retreat, that a couple striving to live the will of God might spontaneously seek a priest's blessing (and) that they increasingly be able to do so."
John Grabowski, professor of moral theology and ethics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, told OSV News that "it's really important to note what the document says and doesn't say."
While "the church can bless anyone," it "cannot give formal liturgical blessing to couples in irregular relationships, whether (it is) two people of the same sex or the opposite sex," he said. "I think what the document is trying to say here (is) that it is possible to give an informal blessing (on) the things that are good in the relationship, even in a relationship that's clouded in some ways by sin."
Father James Martin, editor-at-large of America Media and its LGBTQ+ Catholic resource Outreach, told OSV News that the declaration was "a major step forward in the church's ministry to LGBTQ people."
"(It) recognizes the deep desire in many Catholic same-sex couples for God's presence and help in their committed and loving relationships," said Father Martin.
He added the text represents "a marked shift from the statement 'God does not and cannot bless sin,' from just two years ago.
"The new declaration opens the door to non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, something that had been previously off limits for all bishops, priests and deacons," said Father Martin.
Still, while "the document is quite beautiful ... it's also much more 'conservative' than media reports have suggested, whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing or a mixed blessing," Eve Tushnet, author of "Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith," told OSV News.
Tushnet -- whose work focuses on same-sex attracted Catholics living in accordance with the church's understanding of human sexuality -- said the declaration is "quite strict" in not conferring liturgical blessings on same-sex unions.
The document "walks a fine line," said Grabowski. "This is an attempt to try to say, 'Can we give some kind of blessing to couples who are not living what the church calls them to live in terms of the fullness of a relationship in marriage?'" he said. "Rather than just turning couples away, can we bless Frank and Steve, or Matt and Jillian, even though their relationship is disordered in some way?"
How that unfolds pastorally remains to be seen, experts said.
The document "is not saying there's a requirement to bless; it's saying this is a matter of pastoral discernment," said Grabowski. "I would put it more strongly (in) the language of Catholic moral teaching, and say that it's a prudential judgment. So, if there's anything that could give scandal ... (such as) an adulterous relationship coming out of the dissolution of a marriage ... how do you do that without giving scandal? I don't see a situation where that's not imprudent or potentially scandalous."
"I suspect American advocates for the recognition of same-sex relationships with the church will not find this new guidance satisfactory, just as I expect situations in which such spontaneous requests are made will be few and far between," said Father Petri.
However, in a separate interview with The New York Times, Father Martin said, "Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions."
Grabowski said that while the document was seeking to allow non-liturgical blessings for "whatever human good is present in the relationship ... to help (the individuals) move more completely into embracing (God's) will for their lives," the potential for abuse of the document exists.
Those who favor changing church teaching on same-sex relationships and marriage may "see this as a green light for what they're already doing," he admitted, adding that some clergy may "wink and nod and say, 'Well, I'm not down at the courthouse with (the couple), but just come back to the rectory and we'll have the party.'"
Still, said Grabowski, the document "isn't challenging in any way the church's moral teaching, even though some people are going to try to spin it as such."
Blessing same-sex unions is "not even on the table" in the document, but accompaniment is, said Father Colin Blatchford, associate director of Courage International, a Catholic apostolate that supports same-sex attracted men and women living chastely according to church teaching.
"What's on the table is the pastoral situation when people come to you and recognize that they need God's help, and they ask you to intercede for them and … to ask God to bless them, which I don't think is anything new," he said.
Tushnet said the text provides affirmation for a pastoral need she has seen in her own work.
"Priests across America and the world know that gay couples come to them -- on an airplane, on the street, in a moment of spiritual crisis, at a family event like a funeral ... They open their hearts to the priest and also try to gauge whether he will reject them, or whether he will see the good they're seeking in the love and care they offer their partner," she said.
She said offering a blessing "in this context, can be reparative for years of pain and confusion" and also "honors humility and opens the doorway to deeper faith."
Bishop Scharfenberger added that the journey to love and grow through “God’s grace and love” is a “life-long” pursuit always backed by “pastoral charity.”
“We are all called to follow God’s commandments, and this is a life-long journey of conversion and growth by God’s grace and love,” Bishop Scharfenberger said. “This is why the Pope also ‘urges us not to lose pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes’ and to avoid being ‘judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.’
“God’s goodness and will is always to make us holy.
“Our disposition must be to realize our absolute need for God’s love and grace, joyfully receiving God’s blessing, so we can become holy. As the Declaration also states beautifully, ‘we are more important to God than all the sins we can commit because he is father, he is mother, he is pure love, he has blessed us forever. And he will never stop blessing us.’ ”
NOTES: A link to "Fiducia Supplicans" can be found here: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/12/18/0901/01963.html#en
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