Vatican City - “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Francis, offered a justification for blessing couples in unions considered illicit, as long as it occurs outside the confines of a liturgy, explicitly disavows any interpretation similar to the sacrament of marriage and refrains from endorsing or implying legitimacy to the sexual partnership.

With the declaration, the doctrine regarding marriage does not change, and the blessing does not signify approval of the union. Such a blessing by an ordained minister to consent, merely indicates pastoral closeness and must avoid any elements that remotely resemble a marriage rite.

“Fiducia supplicans” (Latin for Supplicating Trust), is a declaration by the Dicastery, which is not, properly or legally speaking, a papal document, “remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage, not allowing any type of liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion”. This document deepens the doctrine on blessings, distinguishing between ritual and liturgical blessings and spontaneous ones that are acts of devotion linked to popular piety.

“The value of this document, however, is that it offers a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings, permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings, which is closely linked to a liturgical perspective. Such theological reflection, based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis, implies a real development from what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and the official texts of the Church. This explains why this text has taken on the typology of a “Declaration.””

People often seek various blessings in their lives, such as safe travels, good health for bountiful crops, and the mutual well-being of couples in relationships. The document emphasizes the significance of blessings, asserting that both giving and receiving blessings are essential for the world. The last of such a declaration was issued 23 years ago, on August 2000 named “Dominus Jesus”.

It explicitly states that the blessing is directed towards the couple and not the union itself. Importantly, it clarifies that this blessing should not be misconstrued as a marriage, emphasizing that marriage is a sacrament. The document reinforces the church's teachings, emphasizing that marriage is an exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children.

So, what is allowed and not allowed?
The declaration provides more explicit guidance on what actions are prohibited rather than those that are permissible.

Any language resembling marriage vows is explicitly disallowed. Should a priest consent to perform this blessing, it is emphasized that it should not take place within the context of a worship service, a Catholic Mass, or as part of a civil ceremony, such as a courthouse or backyard wedding where a priest is present.

Implicit in these restrictions is the suggestion that the blessing is more suitable for a private setting.

Additionally, the document emphasizes that the church should refrain from developing a formal script or liturgy for these blessings.

Does this change the Church’s teaching on ‘homosexuality’?
The document does not alter the church's stance on homosexuality. It maintains the teaching that same-sex sexual attraction is deemed "intrinsically disordered," and engaging in sexual relations between two individuals of the same gender is considered a grave sin.

People are subject to a wide variety of sinful desires, but these do not become sinful until a person acts upon them, either by acting out the desire or by encouraging the desire and deliberately engaging in fantasies about acting it out. People tempted by homosexual desires, like people tempted by improper heterosexual desires, are not sinning until they act upon those desires in some manner.

Every human being is called to receive a gift of divine sonship, to become a child of God by grace. However, to receive this gift, we must reject sin, including homosexual behavior—that is, acts intended to arouse or stimulate a sexual response regarding a person of the same sex. The Catholic Church teaches that such acts are always violations of divine and natural law.

"The Church seeks to enable every person to live out the universal call to holiness. Persons with a homosexual inclination ought to receive every aid and encouragement to embrace this call personally and fully. This will unavoidably involve much struggle and self-mastery, for following Jesus always means following the way of the Cross...The Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance are essential sources of consolation and aid on this path."

- USCCB, Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination (2006), p. 13

Vatican News has given a detailed explanation of the declaration and its circumstances as follows

“Fiducia supplicans” begins with the introduction by the prefect, Cardinal Victor Fernandez, who explains that the Declaration considers the “pastoral meaning of blessings,” allowing “a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding” through a theological reflection “based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis.”

It is a reflection that “implies a real development from what has been said about blessings up until now, reaching an understanding of the possibility “of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.”

After the first paragraphs (1-3) that recall the previous pronouncement of 2021 that is now further developed and superseded, the Declaration presents the blessing in the Sacrament of Marriage (paragraphs 4-6) stating as inadmissible “rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage” and “what contradicts it,” by avoiding any implication that “something that is not marriage is being recognized as marriage.” It is reiterated that according to the “perennial Catholic doctrine” only sexual relations between a man and a woman in the context of marriage are considered lawful.

A second extensive part of the Declaration (paragraphs 7-30) analyzes the meaning of different blessings, whose recipients are people, objects of worship, and places of life. It is recalled that “from a strictly liturgical point of view,” the blessing requires that what is blessed “be conformed to God’s will, as expressed in the teachings of the Church.”

“When a blessing is invoked on certain human relationships” through a special liturgical rite, the Declaration notes, “it is necessary that what is blessed corresponds with God’s designs written in creation” (par. 11). Therefore, the Church does not have the power to impart a liturgical blessing on irregular or same-sex couples. It is also necessary to avoid the risk of reducing the meaning of blessings to this point of view only, expecting for a simple blessing “the same moral conditions for a simple blessing that are called for in the reception of the sacraments” (par. 12).

After analyzing blessings in Scripture, the Declaration offers a theological-pastoral understanding. Those who ask for a blessing show themselves “to be in need of God’s saving presence” in their lives by expressing “a petition for God’s assistance, a plea to live better” (par. 21). This request should be received and valued “outside of a liturgical framework” when found “in a realm of greater spontaneity and freedom” (par. 23).

When seeing them from the perspective of popular piety, “blessings should be evaluated as acts of devotion.” Those requesting a blessing “should not be required to have prior moral perfection” as a precondition, the Declaration notes.

Exploring this distinction, based on the response of Pope Francis to the dubia published last October that called for discernment on the possibility of “forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons, that do not convey an erroneous conception of marriage” (par. 26), the Declaration affirms that this kind of blessing “is offered to all without requiring anything,” helping people feel that they are still blessed despite their mistakes and that “their heavenly Father continues to will their good and to hope that they will ultimately open themselves to the good” (par. 27).

There are “several occasions when people spontaneously ask for a blessing, whether on pilgrimages, at shrines, or even on the street when they meet a priest and these blessings “are meant for everyone; no one is to be excluded from them” (par. 28).

While it is not appropriate to establish “procedures or rituals” for such cases, the ordained minister may join in the prayer of those persons who “although in a union that cannot be compared in any way to a marriage, desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth” (par. 30).

The third part of the Declaration (paragraphs 31-41) opens then to the possibility of these blessings that represent a sign for those who “recognizing themselves to be destitute and in need of his help—do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that 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” (par. 31).

These blessings should not necessarily become the norm, the Statement notes, but entrusted to “a practical discernment in particular circumstances” (par. 37).

Although the couple is blessed but not the union, the Declaration notes that what is blessed is the legitimate relationship between the two people: in “a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance—but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely” (par. 38).

Also clarified is that to avoid “any form of confusion or scandal,” that when a couple in an irregular situation or same-sex couples ask for a blessing, it “should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding” (par. 39). This kind of blessing “may instead find its place in other contexts, such as a visit to a shrine, a meeting with a priest, a prayer recited in a group, or during a pilgrimage” (par. 40).

In conclusion, the fourth chapter (paragraphs 42-45) recalls that “even when a person’s relationship with God is clouded by sin, he can always ask for a blessing, stretching out his hand to God” and desiring a blessing “can be the possible good in some situations” (par. 43).