Pope Francis clarified that the document on
blessing homosexual people
, which has produced a great internal debate in the Church, establishes that “when a person spontaneously approaches to ask for it (the priest) does not bless the union but simply the people who bless it.” “They have requested meetings.”
In a meeting with the members of the dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, led by the prefect, the Argentine cardinal Víctor Fernández -author of the text-, Francisco also clarified that “these blessings, outside of any context and liturgy form, do not require perfection moral to be received.”
“The intention of the pastoral and spontaneous blessings is to concretely show the closeness of the Lord and the Church to all those who, finding themselves in different situations, ask for help to continue and sometimes to begin a journey of faith,” stated the Argentine Pope.
The document “Fiducia suplicans” points out that pastoral and non-liturgical blessings have
nothing to do with a sacred, marital blessing.
It is not the first time that the Pope, or Víctor "Tucho" Fernández himself, have come out to clarify the scope of blessings for same-sex couples, a decision that unleashed a fierce storm within the Catholic Church.
The reformists of the German Church celebrated the document, while in Africa, for example, the 781 bishops of different countries on the continent collectively rejected the Vatican text.
In several Latin American countries there were also voices of rejection, and especially among the conservatives of the Catholic Church in the United States, where many bishops are also at odds with the Pope for his reformist and open line.
Pope Francis, this Saturday, in an audience this Saturday at the Vatican.
Photo: ANSA
"Human dignity"
Pope Francis also announced that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is working on a new document on human dignity.
“The primacy of the human person and the defense of his dignity beyond any circumstance” summarizes the content of the new doctrinal document.
The Argentine pontiff hoped that this text "can help us as the Church to always be close to all those who, without proclamations, in the concrete life of every day, fight and pay personally to defend the rights of those who do not count."
Francis said that “it is also necessary to ensure that “in the face of various current methods of eliminating or ignoring others, we are able to react, with a new dream of fraternity and social friendship, which is not limited to words.”
Although the controversial debate on the pastoral blessings for homosexuals in the document “Fiduccia Suplicans” has produced
a controversial outbreak in the Church
, the discrepancies remain at the level of a low-intensity conflict and under the control of the Vatican.
Despite the document of the 781 African bishops in opposition to pastoral blessings for homosexuals, criticism is on track.
In fact, these and other topics will add to
the debates that will take place in the second part of the Synod of Synods, the
first part of which took place last October and the second and decisive part will take place in the Vatican next October.
C.B.