One year of Supplicans Fiducia: Thus were the global responses to the Vatican document

The last day of the Jubilee of the World of Communications, which took place from January 24 to 26, coincides with the first anniversary of the meeting of Pope Francis with the participants of the plenary session of the Dicastery for the doctrine of faith (DDF) after The publication of Confidence in supplicatingVatican’s statement about the pastoral meaning of blessings.

Although the initial wave of controversy around Confidence in supplicating The Vatican document on the “pastoral and spontaneous blessings” caused more confusion than clarity about the long -standing teachings of the Church on human sexuality, morality and the sacrament of marriage has been calmedly.

The closure of the special jubilee for communicators offers an opportunity to reflect on the impact of Confidence in supplicating and the communications of the Vatican – particularly sensitive communications carried out by the office responsible for defending and promoting Catholic doctrine – in people living in various historical, sociocultural and political contexts around the world.

North America

National Catholic Register reported that Confidence in supplicating It did not cause too many complications for Catholic priests in the United States. According to the Register’s survey at the 177 Diocese of Latin Rite in the United States, “practically none reported having received complaints or comments from priests or other people regarding the practices derived from the document,” said the Register.

Fr. Peter Karalus, Vicar General of the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, told the Register that after the initial discussions about the Vatican document with the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese and other advisory bodies, “there have been no discussions of monitoring of monitoring No discussion requests. “

The 21 dioceses who responded to the Register’s consultation also reported that the blessings offered by the priests are not recorded.

In Mexico, the Mexican Episcopate Conference (CEM) asked priests and parishioners to avoid distorting the pastoral sense of the blessings convened by Pope Francis. The Episcopal Conference said that “an attitude of reception, closeness and discernment” is needed with “delicacy, firmness and clarity” to accompany people “on their way to fulfill God’s will in their lives.”

Europa

In Germany, many dioceses had instituted formal blessings for same -sex couples before the publication of Confidence in supplicating. And analysis Deutsch discovered that 21 of the 27 Diocese of Germany provide some type of pastoral care queer”, And several offer structured blessing ceremonies that exceed the parameters delineated in the DDF statement.

To further clarify the purpose and meaning of Confidence in supplicatingthe Vatican press office issued a press release on January 4, 2024 explicitly decinning that only pastoral and spontaneous blessings are allowed, while any ritual that may suggest equivalence to marriage is prohibited.

In marked contrast, the Dutch episcopate explicitly rejected non -liturgical blessings for same -sex couples, as proposed in Confidence in supplicating, CNA Deutsch reported. Dutch bishop Rob Mutserts criticized the statement to seem to seek “peace with secular society” at the expense of clarity in the teaching of the Church.

In Spain, the Archbishop of Oviedo, Mons. José Sanz Montes, shared similar feelings and said that the DDF statement showed that “gender ideology has penetrated the church,” said Aci Prensa. Sanz Montes added: “Today, if you do not talk to the jargon of gender ideology … if you do not carry the PIN and the 2030 Agenda in the bowels, it seems that you are in another world and corner you.”

The fact that the DDF had already published in 2021 An explanatory note On the blessing of the unions of same -sex people – in which it is clearly affirmed that “the Church does not have, nor can it have, the power to bless the unions of people of the same sex” – made both Mons. Sanz Montes and the Spanish bishop José Ignacio Munilla said that they did not believe that the publication of Confidence in supplicating.

Africa

The strongest collective resistance to Confidence in supplicating I came from the African bishops of the Catholic Church.

The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) was clear and expressive in its resounding rejection of non -liturgical spontaneous blessings, which, he said, “caused an expansive wave” and “sowed erroneous concepts and restlessness in the minds” of Many faithful Catholics.

“We, the African bishops, do not consider appropriate for Africa to bless homosexual unions or same -sex couples because, in our context, this would cause confusion and would be in direct contradiction with the cultural spirit of African communities,” reads the Declaration of the SECAM of January 11, 2024 signed by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo.

Middle East

The controversy unleashed by Confidence in supplicating The Church was extended to North Africa in the Middle East.

Just a few months after the publication of the document, the Orthodox Copta Church of Egypt suspended the dialogue with the Vatican after consulting with other eastern orthodox churches in the region, which meant a setback for the ecumenical dialogue after Pope Francis instituted a “Friendship day between cops and Catholics” annual in 2013 and included the orthodox martyrs copos in the list of saints of the Catholic Church in 2023.

After the 2024 synod of the Orthodox Copta Church, the spokesman, Father Moussa Ibrahim, confirmed the decision to stop the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church after his perceived “change of position on the issue of homosexuality.”

Latin America

And article of 2024 published by ADN Celam, a news service of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM), described Confidence in supplicating as “an instrument of merciful love and of great pastoral wealth” that does not change the teaching of the Church on sexuality and human morals.

When defending the document signed by the Argentine Prefect of DDF, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, as “blunt and firm”, DNA Celam added that the release of Confidence in supplicating On December 18, 2023 at the festival of Our Lady of Hope, a week before Christmas Day, it was not a decision made “random.”

“We trust that this pastoral approach, to couples who are in irregular situations and same -sex couples, through the blessing outside the liturgical or semi -liturgical context, invokes the” help of God of those who humbly address him, “he says The DNA Celam report.

Asia

In the bastion of the Catholic Church in the region, the president of the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines (CBCP), Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, supported Confidence in supplicatingstating: “The document speaks for itself and, therefore, does not require much explanation,” CBCP News said.

He CBCP statement From December 20, 2023, he highlighted five key paragraphs, namely paragraphs 13, 25, 31, 38 and 39, that the Filipino priests should consider for a prudent discernment and paternal care towards the faithful Catholics of the country.

Both Cardinal William Goh of Singapore and Cardinal Oswald thanks from India considered that the Vatican document leaves little space for misunderstandings about Church’s teachings about human sexuality.

“We show mercy but we do not approve the unions between people of the same sex because without truth, love looks compromised,” Cardinal Goh shared through your communications office.

“Confidence in supplicating It has become the subject of controversy because it is misunderstood … There are no changes in the church doctrine about marriage between a man and a woman, ”he said thanks to Asia News. “The tradition of the Church, the teaching is very clear and there is no contradiction.”

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.