Vatican City, 13 January, 2024 / 8:15 pm (ACI Africa).
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, has commented on the divided reaction to the Fiducia Supplicans document amid a great backlash from episcopal conferences.
“This document has aroused very strong reactions; this means that a very delicate, very sensitive point has been touched; it will take further investigation,” Parolin said on Friday, Jan. 12, during a conference held at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome.
The cardinal went on to say that “if these ferments serve to walk according to the Gospel to give answers to today, these ferments are also welcome,” while reiterating that “the Church is open and attentive to the signs of the times but must be faithful to the Gospel.”
When asked in a follow-up question by an Italian journalist if the document was a mistake, the Vatican’s top diplomat responded curtly: “I do not enter into these considerations; the reactions tell us that it has touched a very sensitive point."
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Dec. 18 document has made it permissible for priests to offer nonliturgical blessings for couples in “irregular” situations, including gay couples, noting “that it offers a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings, permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings.”
