ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 20, 2023 / 18:30 pm
The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain, José Ignacio Munilla, is focusing on the implications of pastoral charity involved in blessing couples in irregular affective situations.
The prelate shared his views on X, shortly after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released its Dec. 18 declaration, titled Fiducia Supplicans, on the pastoral meaning of blessings.
Munilla said that “pastoral charity is a call that we may bless all sinners but not to bless [their] sin,” noting that “this was how Jesus of Nazareth acted, who ‘blessed’ (spoke kindly to) the sinful woman whom they wanted to stone, but that did not mean that he blessed her relationships. (“Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more” (Jn 8:11).
The Spanish bishop explained that “the Gospel invites us to bless all who open themselves to the gift of God, including those who live in irregular affective situations, while it does not grant us any power to bless their unions contrary to God's design.”