Catholics Oppose the Pope’s Blessing of Couples in “Irregular Unions” By Peter West
Ninety clergyman, scholars and authors have joined to publish a statement opposing the Pope's Fiducia Supplicans, a document permitting blessings of homosexual couples and other couples in irregular unions. The document requests that bishops and cardinals of the Catholic Church forbid such blessings. And as well they request that the Pope withdraw the publication. The core reason is that Fiducia Supplicans is a major departure from Catholic teachings and traditions: "The fact is that a priest is imparting a blessing on two people who present themselves as a couple, in the sexual sense, and precisely a couple defined by its objectively sinful relationship. Therefore—regardless of the intentions and interpretations of the document, or the explanations the priest may try to give—this action will be the visible and tangible sign of a different doctrine, which contradicts traditional doctrine."
As they conclude:
"In this difficult moment, a clear word of truth would be the best example of your faithful and courageous dedication to the people of God entrusted to you, a sign of fidelity to the true mission of the Papacy and at the same time the best help for the pope himself, an eloquent "fraternal correction," which he urgently needs in this last and most critical period of his pontificate and probably of his life. If you act promptly, there is still some hope that he may rescue his pontificate and his own person from a stain that could otherwise weigh on him indelibly, not only in history, but in eternity."
Would the Pope even care about this, being so fully committed to Leftist values?
"Today, the feast of Candlemas, some 90 clergymen, scholars, and authors are publishing a new statement that joins the chorus of those Catholic voices opposed to the papally approved Fiducia Supplicans, a document permitting blessings of homosexual couples and other couples in irregular unions. The signatories address the bishops and cardinals of the Catholic Church, asking them to forbid such blessings in their respective dioceses and to ask Pope Francis to withdraw the document altogether.
The authors point out that there has been a very strong reaction against this document issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, saying that "a relevant part of the world episcopate has practically rejected it, due to its evident break with Scripture and the Tradition of the Church." Even cardinals such as Cardinal Robert Sarah and Cardinal Gerhard Müller have spoken up against this Vatican document.
The filial appeal argues against the document as follows:
Therefore, the concrete sign that is given with such blessing, in front of the whole world, is that "irregular couples," extramarital and homosexual alike, according to the Catholic Church, would now be acceptable to God, precisely in the type of union that specifically configures them as couples. Nor does it make sense to separate "couple" from "union," as card. Fernández has tried to do, since a couple is a couple because of the union that gives existence to it.
In light of the gravity of this new Vatican document, the signatories insist that bishops "definitely" are not to "remain silent, "since the scandal that has already occurred is serious and public, and if it is not stopped, it is bound to be more and more amplified."
Among the signatories are numerous personalities known to LifeSite readers, such as Father Gerald Murray, Father Robert Sirico, Father Glen Tattersall, Deacon Nick Donnelly, Professor Claudio Pierantoni, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, Professor John Lamont, Professor Roberto de Mattei, Professor Anna Silvas, Dr. Gerard van den Aardweg, and Professor John and Anna Rist. Among journalists, there can be found Philip Lawler, his wife Leila, and Eric Sammons, as well as LifeSite's own editor-in-chief, John-Henry Westen.
This filial appeal is being published simultaneously in multiple languages on websites such as Infovatikana.com (Spanish), Katholisches.info (German), Sandro Magister (Italian and French), Crisis Magazine, InfoCatólica, Edward Pentin, and more.
Filial Appeal
To all Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church
Your Eminencies, Your Excellencies:
We, the undersigned Catholic priests, scholars, and authors, write to you on the occasion of the latest document published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Fiducia Supplicans, which has caused so much scandal in the Church during this last Christmastime.
As is widely known, a relevant part of the world episcopate has practically rejected it, due to its evident break with Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. Twenty episcopal conferences, dozens of individual prelates, and even cardinals invested with the highest positions, such as Cardinal Müller and Cardinal Sarah, have expressed an unequivocal condemnatory judgment. So have also the UK, USA, and Australian Confraternities of Catholic Clergy. Never in the history of the Catholic Church has a document of the Roman Magisterium experienced such a strong rejection.
Indeed, despite its explicit reaffirmation of the traditional doctrine of the Church on Marriage, it turns out that the pastoral practice that the document allows is in direct opposition to it. So much so, that the document has been very favorably received by those few episcopates and prelates that for decades have been openly advocating a change in the doctrine on sexual morality. It is evident that the practical message that this new declaration transmits is much more in line with the program and ideas of those who want to change the doctrine, than with the doctrine itself that the document claims to keep intact.
The document effectively attempts to introduce a separation between doctrine and liturgy on the one hand, and pastoral practice on the other. But this is impossible: in fact, pastoral care, like all action, always presupposes a theory and, therefore, if pastoral care performs something that does not correspond to the doctrine, what is actually being proposed is a different doctrine.
The blessing of a couple (whether "liturgical" or "pastoral") is, so to speak, a natural sign. The concrete gesture says something naturally, and therefore has a natural, immediate communicative effect, which cannot be artificially changed by the verbal caveats of the document. A blessing as such, in the universal language of humanity, always implies an approval of what is being blessed.
Therefore, the concrete sign that is given with such blessing, in front of the whole world, is that "irregular couples," extramarital and homosexual alike, according to the Catholic Church, would now be acceptable to God, precisely in the type of union that specifically configures them as couples. Nor does it make sense to separate "couple" from "union," as card. Fernández has tried to do, since a couple is a couple because of the union that gives existence to it.
The fact that other significant and accidental circumstances such as timing, location, or ornaments such as flowers and wedding clothes are excluded from the act does not change the nature of the act, since the central and essential gesture remains. Furthermore, we all know from experience what such "restrictions" are worth and how long they last.
The fact is that a priest is imparting a blessing on two people who present themselves as a couple, in the sexual sense, and precisely a couple defined by its objectively sinful relationship. Therefore—regardless of the intentions and interpretations of the document, or the explanations the priest may try to give—this action will be the visible and tangible sign of a different doctrine, which contradicts traditional doctrine.
Let us remember that the traditional doctrine on the subject must be considered infallible, since it is unequivocally confirmed by Scripture and Tradition, a universal and uninterrupted tradition, ubique et semper. And it must be remembered that this is a doctrine of natural law, which does not allow for any change.
In practice, the faithful will not even be aware of the subtle theoretical justifications introduced by the Declaration, much less those that were added in the recent clarification on the Declaration. The message that is effectively launched, and that the people of God, and the entire world, will inevitably register and are already registering is that: The Catholic Church has finally evolved, and now accepts homosexual unions, and, more generally, extramarital unions.
This situation fully justifies the decided rejection of so many episcopal conferences, so many prelates, so many scholars, and so many ordinary lay people. In this context, it is definitely not justifiable, especially for a cardinal or a bishop, to remain silent, since the scandal that has already occurred is serious and public, and if it is not stopped, it is bound to be more and more amplified. The threat does not become smaller but more serious, since the error comes from the Roman See, and is destined to scandalize all the faithful, and above all the little ones, the simple faithful who have no way of orienting and defending themselves in this confusion: "Whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him if a donkey's millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea" (Mt 18,6).
The pastors and all those who have some responsibility in the Church have been constituted as sentinels: "If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn, so that the people are not warned, and when the sword comes he kills one of them, he will perish because of him, but I will ask the watchman to account for his blood" (Ez.33,6).
In light of the above we fervently implore you to:
(1) Follow the brave example of so many brother bishops around the world: please forbid immediately the application of this document in your diocese.
(2) Please ask directly the Pope to urgently withdraw this unfortunate document, which is in contradiction with both Scripture and the universal and uninterrupted Tradition of the Church and which clearly produces a serious scandal.
In this difficult moment, a clear word of truth would be the best example of your faithful and courageous dedication to the people of God entrusted to you, a sign of fidelity to the true mission of the Papacy and at the same time the best help for the pope himself, an eloquent "fraternal correction," which he urgently needs in this last and most critical period of his pontificate and probably of his life. If you act promptly, there is still some hope that he may rescue his pontificate and his own person from a stain that could otherwise weigh on him indelibly, not only in history, but in eternity."
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