{"id":63439,"date":"2024-01-30T20:20:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T02:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=63439"},"modified":"2024-01-30T20:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T02:24:01","slug":"blessed-by-god-but-not-by-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/30\/blessed-by-god-but-not-by-the-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessed by God … but not by the Church?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some comments on Fiducia supplicans<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can couples living in a relationship not accepted by the church receive a blessing? A tiny little signal from Rome meaning \u201cYes, but\u201d could not be interpreted more differently across the churches in Europe, America and all continents. What can be said about it without uprooting the delicate seedling of hope? But also without glossing over what has remained theologically questionable? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMuch, perhaps everything you say about this is wrong\u201d \u2013 this is how the reactions to the statement Fiducia supplicans<\/em><\/a>[1]<\/sup><\/a> published just before Christmas by the dicastery of faith on the blessing of \u201cirregular\u201d couples, including same-sex couples, could be summarized. Joyfully relieved, increasingly sober-critical comments and almost desperate-looking further explanations of the Fiducia supplicans <\/em>declaration were flooding in almost daily, and every pro and con has its counterword. After Amoris laetitia <\/em>(2016), and despite the categorical \u201cno\u201d to the blessing of same-sex couples in 2021 by the then-named Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, the last word on the matter has obviously not yet been spoken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days after its release, Prefect Victor Cardinal Fernandez was much sought-after for interviews on how the document he had written, and which was ratified by Pope Francis, should be interpreted. In light of its reception, he is planning \u201ca journey of conversion and deepening with the German bishops,\u201d which will serve as a pause for reflection to \u201cmake all the necessary clarifications\u201d in personal conversations.<\/a>[2]<\/sup><\/a> Until then, you should take your time and read the text non-ideologically. His statement that \u201cone should not expect a manual, a vademecum<\/em>, or a guide for something so simple\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a> proved untenable, and further clarifications followed, most recently on January 4, 2024.<\/a>[4]<\/sup><\/a> What was unfolded on 26 (!) pages and entails a permanent need for explanation proved not to be so \u201csimple.\u201d And even \u201cthe real novelty of this Declaration,\u201d[5]<\/sup><\/a> namely distinguishing between two different forms of blessing based on \u201cclassical theology,\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a> is neither new nor convincing. A few weeks later, it is now feared that the (well-intentioned) advance from Rome will lead to a dead end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can the judgment of the church mature?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cumbersome text, which endeavors to secure as well as carefully explore new territory (which is then not entered after all), tries \u2013 as was also the case at the Second Vatican Council \u2013 to get everyone on board (as far as possible) and to not close any doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In advance of Fiducia supplicans<\/em>\u2019 publication, a number of dubia <\/em>were put forward on July 10, 2023 by Cardinals Walter Brandm\u00fcller, Raymond Burke, Joseph Zen, Juan Sandoval \u00cd\u00f1iguez and Robert Sarah on the nature of Divine Revelation, including one on the blessing of same-sex couples. The Pope\u2019s differentiated (an exceptionally personal and immediate) response to the dubia<\/em>concerning whether Divine Revelation should be reinterpreted based on current cultural and anthropological changes demanded openness, reflection and intellectual agility. The cardinals first questioned the reinterpretation of divine revelation \u201cin accordance with the cultural changes of our time and in accordance with the new anthropological perspective that promotes these changes.<\/a>\u201d[7]<\/sup><\/a>Francis replied by saying, among other things, that the richness of revelation cannot be exhausted by the Magisterium. In other words, yes, the Magisterium had to continue to grow and mature in light of current cultural changes and new anthropological perspectives: \u201cThat this may lead to a better expression<\/em> of some past statements of the Magisterium\u201d was therefore \u201cinevitable\u201d and \u201chas happened throughout history.\u201d[8]<\/sup><\/a> Moreover, \u201cthe Church must constantly discern between that which is essential for salvation and that which is secondary or less directly connected with this goal.\u201d[9]<\/sup><\/a> This answer was followed by a second, more stringent question on August 21, 2023, which sought to enforce the usual form of a clear \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d answer without theological argumentation. It was answered by the Vatican with Fiducia supplicans<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the self-appointed concerned guardians of \u201ccorrect\u201d doctrine have rightly recognized that it is not really about a supposedly new theology of blessing, but that the church\u2019s image of men and women \u2013 its theological anthropology \u2013 is being put to the test. Unfortunately, the value of the pastoral initiative from the Vatican stands and falls with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If one does not rise to this challenge, one begins to \u201cbeat around the bush.\u201d How can one bless couples \u201cwithout officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church\u2019s perennial teaching on marriage\u201d (FS, \u201cPresentation\u201d), if \u201cit is only in this context that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning\u201d (FS 4)? The fact that \u201ca specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings<\/em>\u201d has therefore been presented must be considered \u201ca real development beyond what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and in the official texts of the Church\u201d (FS, \u201cPresentation\u201d). However, the actual problem remains programmatically untouched: a Catholic anthropology that recognizes diversity and a resulting sexual morality that is still far removed from its reformulation as \u201cChristian relational ethics.\u201d[10]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new blessing sophistry?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter proports to distinguish between several types of blessing: 1) \u201cThe great blessing of God is Jesus Christ\u201d (FS 1); 2) a liturgical blessing, which requires \u201cthat what is blessed conformed to God\u2019s will, as expressed in the teachings of the Church\u201d (FS 9) and must correspond \u201cwith God\u2019s designs written in creation and fully revealed by Christ the Lord\u201d (FS 11) \u2013 as is the case for marriage; and 3) a \u201csimple blessing,\u201d which should not be \u201csubjected to too many moral prerequisites\u201d (FS 12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why should it not be \u201cwritten\u201d in creation, one that is rich in diversity and for which the Creator is praised, that non-binary human beings also strive and may strive for their \u201cnatural, proper, and fully human\u201d (cf. FS 4) sexual expression and fulfillment? If the human being \u2013 everyone carries \u201cfemale\u201d and <\/em>\u201cmale\u201d parts within them \u2013 is created in the image of God, then it is in their own genetic, hormonal and phenotypic expression that also determines their sexual orientation and gender identity. What is known today from the natural and human sciences does not contradict the pictorial biblical creation narratives. They describe differences, but not strict opposites without any shades and variations, but extremes of a continuum on which all facets and nuances of the phenomena and creatures can be found:<\/s><\/s><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDay\u201d and \u201cnight\u201d include twilight as well as dawn and the blue hour; \u201cland\u201d and \u201csea\u201d the coasts and the eternal ice, the \u201cstars\u201d light years, white dwarfs and black holes, \u201cfish\u201d and \u201cbirds\u201d penguins, flying fish and the diving cormorant, \u201cland and reptiles\u201d also amphibians and flightless birds …<\/a>[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author concludes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c… <\/a>[NC1]<\/a> And God created human beings in his image, God created them male and female. And some were clearly male or clearly female and were attracted to the opposite sex. But God also created people who were attracted to the same sex or to both sexes. God created male and female people, but also people who were trans or intersex. And God did not ask whether they were female or male, because they all resembled the divine form. Instead, God said: \u2018Be fruitful and multiply, be tender to one another and take care of everything I have entrusted to you.\u2019 And then God saw that it was very good. And God blessed them. All of them.\u201d<\/a>[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such an exegetical reflection dares to convey the biblical faith in creation in the modern context. The church\u2019s doctrine of \u201cman and woman\u201d in its exclusivity, on the other hand, remains more concerned with patriarchal thought patterns and role attributions than with the reality of life for many people of faith who are capable of relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiducia supplicans <\/em>thus classifies blessing in such a way that it does not \u201capprove\u201d that which is created good, but which, according to traditional church teaching, is (persisting in) \u201csin.\u201d It is true that a person may initially approve (Latin benedicere) <\/em>of everything that he receives (in descending order) as a blessing from God (including themselves and probably also their loved ones). As the one thus blessed \u2013 blessed, approved \u2013 they respond and may (ascending) \u201cbless\u201d God with praise and thanksgiving: \u201cNo one can be prevented from this act of giving thanks\u201d (FS 28). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A waiver of control that is not one<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the (descending) blessing of God that is entrusted \u201cas a gesture of grace, protection, and goodness\u201d (FS 18) to the \u201cpower to bless\u201d (FS 19) of the church for (controlled) transmission, is of a different kind: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe blessing that God grants people and that they pass on to their neighbors is transformed into integration, solidarity and the foundation of peace. It is a positive message of comfort, care and encouragement. The blessing expresses the merciful embrace of God and the motherhood of the Church, which invites the faithful to have the same attitude of heart as God towards their brothers and sisters.\u201d (FS 19)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church therefore regulates and controls on a small scale (e.g. clerical: \u201cThe Lord bless you<\/em>\u201d as opposed to laical: \u201cThe Lord bless us<\/em>\u201d) as well as on a large scale (marriage is blessed \u201csacramentally,\u201d for other intimate relationships there should also be no liturgical blessing in the future) who may give which sign of integration and solidarity and who may receive it, who may ask for, wish for and bestow which blessing on themselves and others. In order to prevent \u201cthe risk of confusing\u201d the faithful (FS 6), the Church requires or forbids certain ritual-liturgical forms, or declares that \u201crites and prayers, that could create confusion \u2026 are inadmissible\u201d (FS 4). However, liturgical celebrations defined only in terms of demarcation harbors a completely different danger, as the liturgist Benedikt Kranemann (University of Erfurt, Germany) points out: \u201cIt is then quickly a matter of gradations that are highly problematic from the basic idea of a worship service, because here as there it is about life and celebration in the presence of God.\u201d[13]<\/sup><\/a> And even (and especially) where there are similarities in the quality of the relationship, it would still be \u201cclear to everyone that there are different situations, but also different celebrations, when it is not a man and a woman standing at the front of the church, but two women or two men. People are already that familiar with church teachings.\u201d[14]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rome, on the other hand, can only just bring itself to \u201cspontaneously\u201d (FS 21, 28, 25 et. al.) concede a \u201csimple gesture\u201d (FS 36) of devotion \u201con the street\u201d (FS 28), for which no knowledge of the exact moral circumstances of life is necessary, so that the Church\u2019s ministers and her faithful do not \u201c[exhaust] his or her energies in inspecting and verifying\u201d \u201cinstead of opening the door to grace.\u201d[15]<\/sup><\/a> (FS 25). This, the declaration argues, is done in order to prevent \u201ca pastoral gesture that is so beloved and widespread\u201d from being \u201csubjected to too many moral prerequisites, which, under the claim of control, could overshadow the unconditional power of God\u2019s love that forms the basis for the gesture of blessing.\u201d (FS 12)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to \u201cclassical theology,\u201d it is described as another form of descending blessing, namely as a request for \u201cactual grace\u201d so \u201cthat all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.\u201d (FS 31) Asking for this can never be wrong. What is wrong, however, is the intention to call such an \u201cintercessory prayer\u201d (FS 33) for healing \u2013 and what is probably meant here is for conversion from \u201cadultery\u201d or their \u201cintrinsically disordered grave depravity,\u201d[16]<\/sup><\/a> in other words ultimately a renunciation of the sexual union that is lived out \u2013 as a \u201cblessing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would a sexually abstinent \u201cJosephite marriage\u201d or \u201cJosephite relationship\u201d actually be worthy of a liturgical blessing? Making it a condition for participation in the sacramental life of the church[17]<\/sup><\/a> shows an absurd fixation on the sexual act in view of the reality of relationships between loving and responsible couples, which is idealized and theologically overloaded in marriage, but devalued and considered reprehensible in all other types of relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Newly) Constructed opposites<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Second Vatican Council explicitly contextualized the extra-liturgical blessings, which had been extremely popular since the Middle Ages, in the context of a church service and linked them to an obligatory word of Scripture, among other things. This is also recommended for domestic blessings, which have been upgraded in light of the Church\u2019s articulation of the \u201cdomestic church.\u201d Sacrosanctum Concilium<\/em> also states: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThus, for well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event in their lives; they are given access to the stream of divine grace which flows from the paschal mystery of the passion, death, the resurrection of Christ, the font from which all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is hardly any proper use of material things which cannot thus be directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.\u201d[18]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on this understanding, blessings and services for couples living \u201cirregularly\u201d have already developed in many places as a matter of course in a ritual form, i.e., equipped with proclamation of the word, prayer, and symbolic acts. The order not to \u201cbless\u201d in the church, but on the way and as inconspicuously as possible, is a step backwards according to the (deceptive) motto \u201c(liturgically) less is (pastorally) more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, it is not only the \u201cquality gap\u201d between the (linguistic) actions of ordained ministers and other believers that has become questionable: Although the boundaries between liturgy and so-called popular religiosity have long been blurred, they are drawn again in the declaration – refined by the categories \u201cliturgical or semi-liturgical\u201d (?) and \u201cpastoral,\u201d \u201critual\u201d and \u201cspontaneous.\u201d This is ultimately done to the detriment of the liturgy by imposing a strict ban on the ritualization of an \u201cirregular\u201d couple\u2019s blessing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c… that these non-ritualized blessings never cease being simple gestures that provide an effective means … careful that they should not become a liturgical or semi-liturgical act, similar to a sacrament. Indeed, such a ritualization would constitute a serious impoverishment because it would subject a gesture of great value in popular piety to excessive control, depriving ministers of freedom and spontaneity in their pastoral accompaniment of people\u2019s lives.\u201d (FS 36)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple and effective, free, and spontaneous \u2013 that\u2019s how pastoral care, perhaps even some church services, should be! Who wouldn\u2019t agree with that? Unbelievable \u2013 and fatal! \u2013 is the talk of the impending \u201cimpoverishment,\u201d even \u201cdeprivation\u201d of pastoral care through liturgical ritualization. After all, it is precisely those liturgical rites, treasured by the Church, through which people come before God in all ups and downs to place themselves and their lives under his will of salvation and to find practicable ways of responding to him. But for those who are not worthy of the liturgy, a second-class \u201cpastoral\u201d and ad hoc <\/em>blessing must suffice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing pastoral and liturgical off against each other betrays a questionable understanding of both: faith and piety are not impoverished by liturgical rites, but rather the other way around if these are withheld. In this way, the church not only loses credibility, but also a core competence. Those who \u201cgive blessings\u201d on the street instead of celebrating blessings in church have not gone \u201cto the margins\u201d but want to make the reality of many people\u2019s lives, which they are only reluctantly aware of, as invisible as possible. The fear of \u201cscandal\u201d and of confusion and disorientation is put forward instead of trusting the discernment and comprehension of the faithful to do more. The moral renunciation of control to disguise a lack of respect and a failure of recognition tastes stale. An intercession for deliverance disguised as a blessing (from a relationship that is unworthy in the eyes of the church) will hardly fill a couple with joy and confidence, nor will \u201cthis paternal gesture in the midst of their struggle for survival,\u201d[19]<\/sup><\/a> which refuses to accept precisely that which requires acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A disappointed hope …<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rome has tried to make concessions (and arrive in the present) \u2013 has it opened the way to a dead end? Or will the road only be closed temporarily? Instead of participating in a liturgical blessing celebration which is worthy of the name, a clerical gesture of \u201ca few seconds\u201d[20]<\/sup><\/a> and supposedly \u201cgreat value for popular piety\u201d (FS 36) is to be made palatable to those affected. Praised as \u201cthe really new,\u201d the pastoral addition to blessing theology turns out to be theologically outdated and, on top of that, a fraudulent label, because despite the (intercession) request for various goods (and for \u201cpurification\u201d) granted to \u201cirregular\u201d couples, they remain \u201cgreat sinners\u201d in the Church\u2019s eyes. Is it so difficult in the 21st century to take the step towards a view of humanity based on the ethics of relationships, which recognizes the diversity inscribed in creation and \u2013 when lovingly integrated and lived responsibly \u2013 understands it as enriching?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that at some point the road no longer remains closed but can be opened for all those who want to come? The Anglican Church has taken this step and done what Rome is anxious to avoid (and forbid): \u201cThe Living in Love and Faith process and the subsequent Prayers of Love and Faith have articulated a Christian anthropology that positively values LGBTQI+ people and their relationships.\u201d<\/a>[21]<\/sup><\/a> Even if the Church of England and the Catholic Church agree that the doctrinal language about sexual disposition, identity and relationships has for too long been characterized by contempt, only the Anglican Church has drawn the decisive conclusion so far:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a clear positive Christian anthropological evaluation in the statement \u2018To celebrate in God\u2019s presence the promise that two people have made to each other is an occasion for joy\u2019 lies a clearly positive Christian anthropological evaluation, since one cannot legitimately celebrate in God\u2019s presence that which is \u2018disorderly,\u2019 \u2018irregular\u2019 or sinful.\u201d[22]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pope and his prefect do not give this recognition in Fiducia supplicans. <\/em>Their \u201cgift to the faithful people\u201d[23]<\/sup><\/a> is the cramped permission to bless \u201ca little bit.\u201d Unfortunately, however, \u201cdefective\u201d gifts from the Vatican can neither be exchanged nor returned. A small consolation: the declaration remains a gift for those who bless \u2013 from now on they can no longer be defamed as heretics but can follow their pastoral convictions at least as far as the church door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a>Declaration Fiducia Supplicans On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings (18 December 2023) (vatican.va)<\/a> (2.1.24)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> Cardinal Fern\u00e1ndez: Same-sex blessing ‘does not validate or justify anything’ (pillarcatholic.com)<\/a> (2.1.2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> Press release concerning the reception of Fiducia supplicans (4 January 2024) (vatican.va)<\/a> (14.1.2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> See note 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/roman_curia\/congregations\/cfaith\/documents\/rc_con_cfaith_risposta-dubia-2023_en.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> From the Pope’s reply e); see note. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid. g); as note. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/sup><\/a> Although such an all-round renewal has been well founded and argued since October 2023: Martin Lintner, Christliche Beziehungsethik. Historische Entwicklungen – Biblische Grundlagen – Gegenw\u00e4rtige Perspektiven, Freiburg i.Br. u. a.: Herder 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/sup><\/a> Juliane Link at: https:\/\/www.feinschwarz.net\/maennlich-und-weiblich-und-alles-dazwischen\/<\/a> (3.1.2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/sup><\/a> Cf. note 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/www.katholisch.de\/artikel\/44374-kranemann-segensfeiern-nicht-vorrangig-von-abgrenzung-her-gestalten<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/sup><\/a> St. Francis, Ap. exhort. Evangelii  gaudium<\/a> (November 24, 2013), n. 94, AAS 105 (2013), 1060.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[16]<\/sup><\/a> Cf. CCC 2357.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[17]<\/sup><\/a> Cf. Familiaris consortio <\/em>(22. 11. 1981) 84.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[18]<\/sup><\/a> Sacrosanctum Concilium <\/em>61.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[19]<\/sup><\/a> Press release 6; see note. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[20]<\/sup><\/a> Ibid. (5); see note 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[21]<\/sup><\/a> James Hadley, OblSB; cf. https:\/\/praytellblog<\/a>.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/05\/more-on-the-trans-tiber-conundrum-of-blessing-the-irregulars\/<\/a>(7.1.2024) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[22]<\/sup><\/a> As Note 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[23]<\/sup><\/a> From the \u201cPresentation\u201d of the declaration; see note 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INGRID FISCHER — Can couples living in a relationship not accepted by the church receive a blessing? A tiny little signal from Rome meaning \u201cYes, but\u201d could not be interpreted more differently across the churches in Europe, America and all continents. What can be said about it without uprooting the delicate seedling of hope? But also without glossing over what has remained theologically questionable?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":63428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3117,285,2224],"tags":[3671,3672],"class_list":["post-63439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-scholarship-new-ws","category-pastoral-theology","category-pope-francis","tag-fiducia-supplicans","tag-ingrid-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\nBlessed by God ... but not by the Church? - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/30\/blessed-by-god-but-not-by-the-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blessed by God ... but not by the Church? - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"INGRID FISCHER -- Can couples living in a relationship not accepted by the church receive a blessing? A tiny little signal from Rome meaning \u201cYes, but\u201d could not be interpreted more differently across the churches in Europe, America and all continents. What can be said about it without uprooting the delicate seedling of hope? 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