Vatican seeks to calm bishops over approval of blessings for same-sex couples

O Vatican tried this Thursday (04) to calm the Catholic bishops of some countries who reacted negatively to the approval, last month, of blessings for same-sex couples, telling them that the measure is not “heretical” or “blasphemous”.

In a five-page statement, the doctrinal office of the Vatican also acknowledged that such blessings could be “unwise” in some countries where people who receive them could become targets of violence, or risk being arrested or even killed.

Catholic bishops in some countries, especially in Africa, have expressed perplexity and varying degrees of disagreement regarding the December 18 statement, known by its Latin title Fiducia Supplicans (Suppliant Confidence).

The fact that the Vatican having to issue a five-page clarification on an eight-page document, just over two weeks after its publication, seems to highlight the extent of the confusion it caused in many countries.

After the original statement was released, several Catholic bishops' conferences issued statements emphasizing that the blessings did not amount to an official approval of gay sex or a sacrament of marriage for same-sex couples.

The doctrinal office, known as the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, highlighted these aspects in its statement on Thursday, saying that blessings for same-sex couples should not be seen as “a justification of all their actions, and are not an endorsement of the life they lead.”

The office said it wanted to “clarify the reception of Fiducia Supplicans while at the same time recommending a thorough and calm reading” of the December 18 statement.

“Evidently, there is no room for us to distance ourselves doctrinally from this statement or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church or blasphemous,” said Thursday’s note.