Pope Francis spoke again about the declaration of Fiducia supplicans during an audience with the members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which he stressed that the union is not blessed, “but simply the people who together have requested it.” ” and that these do not require “moral perfection to be received.”
Pope Francis met this January 26 at the Apostolic Palace with the members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose prefect, Cardinal Víctor Fernández, is the author of the declaration that has aroused a series of reactions from bishops and numerous episcopal conferences.
During his address to the members of this dicastery after concluding his Plenary Assembly, Pope Francis specified that the “pastoral and spontaneous blessings intend to concretely show the closeness of the Lord and the Church to all those who, finding themselves in different situations, “They ask for help to continue – sometimes to begin – a journey of faith.”
“I would like to briefly underline two things: the first is that these blessings, outside of any liturgical context and form, do not require moral perfection to be received,” the Pontiff highlighted.
Likewise, he pointed out that “when a couple spontaneously approaches to ask for them, they are not blessing the union, but simply the people who together have requested it.”
“Not to the union, but to the people,” he insisted, “naturally taking into account the context, the sensitivities, the places where one lives and the most appropriate ways of doing so.”
After the publication of Fiducia supplicans on December 18, 2023, Pope Francis spoke for the first time on the matter during a private meeting with more than 800 priests of the Diocese of Rome on 13 January.
In line with what was expressed this morning, the Pontiff stressed that in the Catholic Church people are blessed, not sin.
Likewise, he explained that “Africa does not accept these blessings because there are different sensitivities and that this was clarified with Cardinal [Fridolin] Ambongo”, Archbishop of Kinshasa and president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.
Likewise, during an interview on Italian television on January 15, Pope Francis stated that when you decide this type, “there is a price of loneliness that you have to pay and sometimes the decisions are not accepted.”
Likewise, he explained that “when decisions are not accepted it is because they are not known” and urged “to speak, ask your doubts and have a fraternal discussion.” “If it is kept in the heart, it creates ugly resistance,” he said.