Key Synod Official Endorses Queer Blessings; And More Updates

A top cardinal who has a central role in the Synod has voiced his support for Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration allowing blessings for same-gender couples. Today’s post features that news and other developments related to the debate over blessings.

Key Synod Official Endorses Blessings

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg endorsed the Vatican declaration and Pope Francis’ vision for it in an interview with L’essentiel. Asked about blessings for couples in “irregular” unions, the cardinal, who plays a critical role in the Synod on Synodality as Relator General, replied (via Google Translate):

“I am absolutely on the same line as the Pope. Would we refuse to bless a homosexual couple because they are ‘sinners’ and would we bless an entrepreneur who is going to invest against humanity? It’s hypocritical. The Pope considers himself a ‘sinner’ and so do I. The Pope does not like to condemn the sins of others without looking at his own. He adds: ‘Why only care about morality below the belt?'”

When asked if the church should consider evolving its teachings on moral issues, Hollerich answered, “Our changing times are phenomenal and the Church must be understood by people.”

The cardinal has been an increasingly staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ people, having first expressed an openness to blessing LGBTQ+ relationships in 2021. Last year, he expressed concern with the Catechism’s use of “intrinsically disordered” to describe same-gender sexual activity. In 2022, Hollerich called for a reconsideration of the church’s teachings on homosexuality, but later walked back his comments a bit. That same year, he condemned discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in strong terms. His full record is available here.

Vatican Official Cites Pope Benedict XVI to Affirm Blessings

Andrea Tornielli, editorial director for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, defended Fiducia Supplicans in Vatican News. He juxtaposed “ritual” or “liturgical” blessings against “pastoral” or “spontaneous” blessings, affirming Pope Francis’ statement that the latter exist “outside of any liturgical context and form.”

Tornielli then surpisingly turns to the work of former popes known for their gay-negative efforts in his defense, citing a Vatican Instruction from 2000 on healing prayers and provides some examples from the text. In conclusion, he writes:

“[This text] signed by Cardinal Ratzinger and approved by Pope St John Paul II, show that the meaning of the term ‘liturgical’ used in Fiducia Supplicans to define ritual blessings, which are different from pastoral ones, is certainly a new development but inserted within the framework of the Magisterium of the last decades.”

For a more concise explanation of Tornielli’s argument, read Catholic News Service’s report here.

Coptic Church Pauses Ecumenical Dialogue Over Homosexuality

The Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, located in Egypt, has “decided to suspend the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church” because of Fiducia Supplicans, which it condemned in sharp terms. Coptic leaders intend now to “re-evaluate the results that the dialogue has achieved” in its twenty years and “establish new standards and mechanisms” for dialogue to resume. Under Pope Francis, relations with the Coptic Church, which traces its origins to the apostle Mark in the first century C.E., had warmed. Indeed, in 2023, Pope Francis recognized in the Roman Martyrology some Coptic Christians killed by extremists in Libya, reported Crux.

NPR Features Story of Couple’s Blessing in Mexico

More positively, NPR featured the story of two Catholics, Javier López and Sergio Guzmán, who received a blessing several years ago from a priest in Mexico. The report explained:

“‘I just want to make sure that you guys take care of each other,’ López recalls the priest saying. ‘And at that point he actually asked us to kneel in front of him and gave us a blessing.’

“It was something López says they never expected: ‘We were shocked and surprised and really, like, “I guess this is official now.”‘ . . .

“‘The church is able to bless us,’ he says, which is an invitation to all LGBTQ+ Catholics to live in hope for what lies ahead. ‘And we are able to bless the church with our presence, with our gifts.'”

Russian Bishops Reject Blessings After Assembly

In his role as the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia’s chair (KKER), Archbishop Paulo Pezzi of Moscow issed a statement on the topic of blessings after the conference’s plenary meeting in February. Reaffirming church teaching on marriage, Pezzi stated that, “To avoid temptation and confusion, KKER draws attention to the fact that blessings of any kind of couples who persist in unregulated relationships from the point of view of Christian morality (cohabiting, second-married, same-sex) are unacceptable.” He also lamented “misundertsandings” and “confusion” that he claims Fiducia Supplicans caused.

Two Spanish Bishops Seek Declaration’s Withdrawal

In Spain, Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante posted an article on X (formerly Twitter) about a Russian Orthodox bishop’s condemnation of the blessings declaration. Ignacio Munilla add the following comment:

“In the face of so much chaos generated, we have enough signs to conclude that the solution is to rectify it; that is, withdraw ‘Fiducia Supplicans’. The ‘responsum’ of the year 2021 was sufficient, in which everything positive there is in Fiducia Supplicans was already included. Of course, we dare to ask the Metropolitan of the Russian Patriarchate to apply the same coherence to condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, for departing from Christian morality.”

Elsewhere, Archbishop Jesús Sanz of Oviedo linked Fiducia Supplicans to the alleged threat of “gender ideology,” a nebulous concept used by some church leaders to attack LGBTQ+ rights. Sanz claimed in an interview with El Debate that “gender ideology has penetrated the Church,” resulting in an “ambiguous and strange confusion.” He also cited the Vatican’s 2023 document allowing transgender people to receive the Sacraments, commenting that all of it would allow children to be brought into a “perverse anthroplogy.”

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, March 14, 2024