CNA Staff, Dec 22, 2023 / 16:56 pm
The leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said Friday that the Vatican’s recent declaration on nonliturgical same-sex blessings does not apply to the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said that his statement was in response to numerous appeals from bishops, clergy, monastics, church movements, and individual laity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church regarding Fiducia Supplicans, a declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published Dec. 18.
That declaration said that “blessings are among the most widespread and evolving sacramentals” and that it is possible to give “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.”
The declaration clearly states that the Church’s teaching on marriage between one man and one woman has not changed and emphasizes that such blessings should “never” occur within the ceremony of a civil union “and not even in connection with them” to avoid confusion or scandal.