Was Fiducia Supplicans necessary? Fernández responds
When asked if “it was necessary” to publish the Fiducia Supplicans declaration, which allows priests to give a blessing to same-sex couples and those in an irregular situation, Fernández told EFE that “many people and institutions have been sending questions about this topic for some time.”
In addition, he pointed out that in his “conversations with the pope one thing became clear to me, that he wanted to reject blessings to irregular couples with rites or liturgical forms, but at the same time he wanted to avoid that this involve beginning to set many conditions to give a simple blessing on the go, on the street, on a pilgrimage, because he holds in his heart the value of pastoral care for the people, which welcomes everyone.”
“For many priests in Argentina, Brazil, and other countries it’s very common to give these simple blessings without requiring anything, and to give them even to criminals. Therefore, if two people ask for it, it doesn’t involve demanding moral or canonical perfection to give it,” he stressed.
“Deep down, Francis’ interest was in safeguarding the freedom and spontaneity of this other type of blessing that is the only priestly gesture we have to give to everyone,” he stated.
When asked if Fiducia Supplicans creates division in the Church, the DDF prefect responded: “In any case, that division already existed and is only becoming transparent.”
The cardinal also said that he has spoken with Pope Francis about the criticisms and reactions in opposition to the declaration and said that the Holy Father considers them as “purifications from God to allow us to fulfill better and with more humility the task that the Lord entrusts to us.”
Responding to the question if there are any other issues he would like to clarify because they create confusion, Fernández replied: “I must say that I don’t think I’ll be in the news in the future because we don’t have any topics planned in the dicastery that could be very controversial, like the last ones.”
Fernández added: “We are preparing a very important document on human dignity that not only includes social issues but also strong criticism on moral issues such as sex changes, surrogacy, gender ideology, etc. In that sense, the people who are most concerned will be able to take it easy.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Walter Sánchez Silva is a senior writer for ACI Prensa (https://www.aciprensa.com). With more than 15 years of experience, he has reported from important ecclesial events in Europe, Asia and Latin America during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
E-mail: walter@aciprensa.com