I’m over at the Christian Research Journal today with the first of a bi-monthly column called Theological Trends. I’m super excited about this opportunity. I’m going to be writing about a lot of the same stuff I usually do here, but hopefully with lots more footnotes and continued help from the fantastic editors at CRJ. It’s been so fun to write from them over these past few years and I’m delighted to make it even more regular! Hope you enjoy this longer look at Fiducia Supplicans, and also check out the podcast I recorded with Melanie (YouTube version below). Enjoy all the content!
Twenty years ago, when the Episcopal Church succumbed to the sexual identity heresy, a lot of other denominations and ecclesiastical bodies wagged their heads and felt sorry for those caught up in the “Anglican trouble.” The affirmation or blessing of same-sex relationships, and all the attendant theological and biblical gymnastics, seemed an outlier, something that would never bring down a real church like the Southern Baptist Convention, or ever make its way inside the solid foundations of the Roman Catholic Church. At the time, I prayed that God would use our ruin as a warning to others. And, for a while, it seemed that God had heard me. There wasn’t a mad rush to accept same-sex marriage or ordain openly gay pastors. The first real blow against broad ecumenical orthodoxy on sexuality came with Revoice,1 and even then, the pushback was thoroughly heartening.
But 2023 saw a string of troubling events that prove no single church is immune from the corrosive effects of progressivism. The United Methodist Church suffered a formal split between orthodox and heterodox congregations;2 the Church of England went one further than The Episcopal Church and adopted “Prayers of Love and Faith,” which allows for prayers to be said over individuals “inside” same-sex relationships;3 Andy Stanley hosted his “Unconditional” conference to “pastorally” aid parents of same-sex identifying children;4 and, to round out a bad year for faithful Christians, Pope Francis signed Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernandez’s “Fiducia Supplicans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings.”5
In almost all these cases, the cleric or theologian introducing the question of same-sex blessings does not deny that the Scriptures reserve marriage for the life-long union between one man and one woman. Rather, emotional and spiritual space is created for a novel “pastoral response” for those either in same-sex relationships or who experience those desires. The ordinary pastoral work of the church, when it comes to the same-sex attracted, is judged to be insufficient.
In Fiducia supplicans (“Supplicating trust”6), to create this space, a new kind of blessing is offered that, according to the document, is spontaneous in nature and therefore more fully communicates God’s “unconditional” love.7 Unfortunately, this new kind of blessing contradicts previous teaching on this subject. Most people might assume that councils such as Vatican II8 are sufficiently authoritative on matters like these, but as lately as 2021, in a response to the question, “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith answered “Negative.” They went on to say, plainly, that “he [God] does not and cannot bless sin.” The 2021 statement allowed that individual people in a sinful relationship can receive a blessing, that homosexual inclinations are not in themselves sinful, and that God always has the power to bless sinful people, but, nevertheless, a sexual relationship of two people of the same sex cannot be blessed by God.9
WHAT IS A BLESSING?
“Blessings are among the most widespread and evolving sacramentals,” explains Cardinal Fernandez in Fiducia supplicans (FS), “they lead us to grasp God’s presence in all the events of life and remind us that, even in the use of created things, human beings are invited to seek God, to love him, and to serve him faithfully.”10 In the contentious and politically fraught sphere of same-sex relationships, FS takes a step back and delves into the question of blessings in general. How does the church confer them? What does the Bible say? And what is the most pastoral way to bless someone? The document quotes Pope Francis: “[W]e are more important to God than all the sins we can commit because he is father, he is mother, he is pure love, he has blessed us forever. And he will never stop blessing us.”11
Read the rest here! And have a lovely day!
As a mother of a son lost in the LGBTQ lifestyle who was engaged to his 'boyfriend', I was compelled through tears to take a stand about their 'engagement'. Your article carefully articulates why I would not attend or bless their union. There is a higher court, a holy GOD who does not bless this sin. This crossroads conversation was one of the hardest of my life. Yet, a few months later my son broke off the union and moved out of their apartment. He is still entrenched in this culture and I pray God will continue to pursue his heart and soul. Bless you Anne for writing with wisdom and boldness about this topic. I'm convinced there are thousands of parents searching for biblical answers in the malaise of compromise all around us. God bless your courage and clarity.
If this is true- Pope Francis: “[W]e are more important to God than all the sins we can commit because he is father, he is mother, he is pure love, he has blessed us forever. And he will never stop blessing us.”
Then the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is pointless
and of no significance in the atonement for sin and the whole basis for the existence of the church has no foundation. At least that’s how I see it.