Rome Newsroom, Jan 19, 2024 / 16:30 pm
The Catholic bishops of the Netherlands have issued a cautious, qualified response to the Vatican’s controversial guidance on blessings, striking a markedly different tone than their most immediate neighbors in Western Europe.
In their Jan. 16 statement, the Dutch bishops wrote that while “it is possible to say a prayer over individual believers living in an irregular relationship,” care must be taken to avoid appearing to condone sinful sexual activity or to cause confusion about the nature of marriage.
“What one asks for in prayer and the manner in which one prays are important here,” stressed the country’s 11 Catholic bishops in their response to Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican’s Dec. 18, 2023, declaration that affirmed the possibility of offering nonliturgical, spontaneous blessings to same-sex couples and those in irregular situations.
The most senior of the Dutch bishops is Cardinal Wim Eijk, the archbishop of Utrecht.