Cordoba, 27 December, 2023 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, commenting on the reluctance expressed by individual bishops and bishops’ conferences regarding the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, stated that “it’s proper for each local bishop to make that discernment.”
The declaration from the DDF establishes a distinction between liturgical blessings and those of an informal nature and encourages the blessing of persons in “irregular situations” and “same-sex couples” considering that, carried out with certain precautions, they should not be confused with approval of conduct or circumstances contrary to doctrine.
In an interview published in the Spanish newspaper ABC, Fernández responded to the criticism and divergent opinions expressed by other cardinals, bishops, and bishops’ conferences, assuring that “if the text is read with an even disposition, it can be seen that it supports with great clarity and simplicity the perennial Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality.”
The cardinal stressed that the critics of Fiducia Supplicans “cannot disagree with that doctrine,” noting that in his understanding, the objections to the document have to do with “the impropriety of giving blessings in their regional contexts that easily would be confused with a legitimation of an irregular union.”
Especially in Africa, where “there is legislation that penalizes with prison the mere fact of declaring oneself to be gay, imagine [what a] a blessing [would do],” the DDF doctrinal chief said, adding that “it’s proper for each local bishop to make that discernment in his diocese or in any case, to give further guidance.”
