“Fiducia Supplicans” Is Beginning, Not End of Church Dialogue, Say Theologians

Much of the initial news coverage about Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration allowing blessings for so-called “irregular” couples, focused on how bishops were responding—who welcomed it, which episcopal conferences resisted, and so forth. Now, two months later, theologians are offering more detailed analyses of the declaration and its implications. Today’s post features insights from theologians collected over the preceding weeks.

SimonMary Aihiokhai, a theologian at the University of Portland, Oregon, wrote in the National Catholic Reporter that the declaration extends beyond just the question of LGBTQ+ relationships. Through Fiducia Supplicans, Pope Francis continues his efforts to welcome “those who have been otherized because they do not fit perfectly with the usual canonical and theological expectations.” The declaration, according to Aihiokhai, is an invitation to all people to more fully submit to the Holy Spirit and offer a broad welcome:

“[T]he blessing is not about evidence of perfection. Rather, it is a statement of faith that God’s enduring grace is still present, even in those situations that we may not fully comprehend. Faith evokes in us the conviction that through our fellowship in Christ, we will all bear the fruits of the Spirit in the world and toward each other. Thus, one can argue that blessing is itself a form of submission to the Holy Spirit, who can create a turn toward discernment for the harmony of our lives and a love of God’s abundant life. . .

“[W]e ought to welcome this openness of the church to same-sex couples as one that offers us the opportunity to embody a discerning spirit, while supporting those in such relationships to live fully their lives as children of God so that they can authentically experience abundant life. Whether heterosexual or same-sex relationships, no relationship can be healthy without the support of the community. In this case, the role of the church is fundamental for mediating pathways of life for same-sex couples. By supporting them, the church ritualizes its belief of oneness in Christ.”

(Aihiokhai was a panelist for New Ways Ministry’s webinar, “Being Blessed: The Challenge of Fiducia Supplicans,” yesterday. A recording will be made available soon. To find out more about a recording, click here.)

Lisa Sowle Cahill, a theologian at Boston College, described the blessings declaration as “a pastoral solution by allowing Catholics and Catholic leadership in different contexts to affirm the document selectively.” She weighed in on the ecclesial splits that have developed, however, writing for Outreach:

“We ‘Westerners’ must respect other cultures and be willing to receive criticisms and caveats regarding our own deeply held convictions and practices surrounding gender roles and sexual norms, as on other matters. We must respect those who sincerely believe that church teaching forces them to oppose many advances for LGBTQ people that we, in the West, may take for granted. We should engage with them constructively and in friendship whenever possible.”

Still, Cahill asserts that differences on blessings should not impair a Catholic witness for LGBTQ+ human rights, and encourages the Synod on Synodality’s next assembly in October 2024 to take up that task.

Ish Ruiz, a gay Latinx theologian at Emory University, said his response to the declaration was “incredible joy.” He was ambivalent, though, about the ways blessings “are framed as a way to assist LGBTQ+ people with their sinful lifestyles,” but focused on the positive. NCR reported:

“Even with that disappointment, Ruiz encouraged same-sex couples to reach out to their priests for a blessing.

‘The Catholic faith, more than in a set of documents, is really contained in the lived experiences of the faithful,’ Ruiz said.

“‘I’m hopeful that the faithful in practice will probably continue to do what they’ve been doing all along, which is ignore these teachings that claim’ that ‘our love is somehow lesser,’ he said.”

Brian Flanagan, a gay theologian and Senior Fellow at New Ways Ministry, described Fiducia Supplicans as “a big, small step forward.” Flanagan emphasized “deep pastoral implications for Catholics around the world,” even with the declaration’s limits. He told NCR:

“‘We are not at a point in the Catholic church where we could have any kind of approach and consensus on how to respond officially to same-sex marriage all the time. But I think this really provides a lot of freedom for the people closest to folks on the ground to use their best pastoral judgment as to how to make sure that people know that they’re loved and welcomed in the church.'”

Mary Hunt, co-founder of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER), claims the declaration “shattered” any conception that the church was becoming more inclusive through the synodal process. In her essay, she is quite negative about Fiducia Supplicans in reading it as an exercise of papal power. She writes, in part:

“Fiducia Supplicans is a Rorschach test for a deeply conflicted church. Some are delighted that same-sex people can finally receive a blessing from an ordained male priest. Others, including many African bishops (with the exception of the ones in North Africa) have rejected the directive out of hand as heretical. Fraught as all of this is, blessings are small potatoes compared with the challenges to papal authority by conservatives and the conundrum of papal fiats for progressives. . .So the new declaration on blessings is hardly a step forward in Catholicism where anti-LGBTQI+ animus is legend.”

Fr. Joseph Loïc Mben, SJ, an ethicist at the Theological Institute of the Society of Jesus, Cameroon, recognizes that the declaration is indeed a development in Catholic tradition, as has happened previously in church history. Even though the document maintains a neagative assessment of same-gender relationships, the priest writes in La Croix that Fiducia Supplicans is not an end, but opening for an ongoing process:

“Development is not new in the Church, but it must be done in a manner consistent with Tradition. The American theologian John T. Noonan proposes the following criterion as a guide for doctrinal and moral development: ‘Let your love abound more and more, and more and more in insight and full understanding, to discern what is best’ (Phil 1, 9-10a). Thus, for the apostle Paul, the growth of love is accompanied by a growth of intellect and discernment. . .

“It seems necessary to me to specify that this text is a declaration which is a first position taken by the official Church in relation to a new situation. It is therefore not a definitive opinion on the matter. We can treat it as a prudential judgment which simply involves taking note of it even if we do not necessarily agree with the details expressed.”

Massimo Faggioli, a theologian and church historian at Villanova University, published analyses in Commonweal and La Croix International that focused in on the declaration’s relationship with synodality. In La Croix, Faggioli contends the “synodal character” of the blessings declaration is “highly debatable,” in part because of how it was developed and how it has—or has not—been received. Faggioli specifies that the opposition of African prelates raises new questions. At one point, he writes in a point directly relevant for LGBTQ+ inclusion:

“[A]t this point it should be explained why Africa can be given an exemption on this issue while Germany or another country cannot be given one on other issues.The fact is that the Catholic Church’s path in this century is not just of a synodal conversion, but of a synodal conversion within a turbulent process of the globalization of Catholicism. This has been very visible during Francis’ pontificate and especially since the publication of Fiducia supplicans. On the world map of Catholicism today there are not only extremely diverse cultures concerning sexuality, LGBTQ, and gender. There are also very uneven lived ecclesiologies. Synodality calls for a different dynamic for ensuring the participation of the varying ecclesial components in the production and reception of Church teaching. . .But some of the bishops, like Cardinal Ambongo, apparently still retain a voice, a vote, and a veto power that other bishops and other members of the Church do not have.”

In Commonweal, one point Faggioli makes is how Fiducia Supplicans may impact this October’s assembly for the Synod:

“As to Fiducia supplicans and the Synod: the fundamental question is whether and how Fiducia supplicans and its reception affect the possibility of consensus on sensitive issues at the second assembly in October. Maybe Fiducia supplicans is Francis’s way of telling us that only the pope, not the Synod, is in charge, or that only the pope is able to take steps when there is lack of consensus on the most sensitive issues.”

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, February 26, 2024