Pope Francis Authorizes Blessing Homosexual Couples and Adulterers with a Declaration and a “Clarification” that Favor Sin

Amid the worst crisis in the Church’s history, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published the December 18 Declaration Fiducia Supplicans (FS), authorizing priests to bless adulterous and homosexual relationships. There followed a Clarification confirming what the declaration said.

Both statements favor adulterous couples and homosexual pairs at a time when civil laws are being changed throughout the West to protect such sins. Moreover, concerning homosexual relationships, many laws go beyond legalizing vice and openly punish those faithful to the Church’s morality, who continue to cry out with Saint John the Baptist: “It is not lawful” (Mt 14:4). It is not licit to go against God’s Law and natural law.

Both documents seek to “normalize” divorce, adultery and homosexual pairs.

A New Kind of Blessing

FS calls for an “innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings,” distinguishing between “forms of blessings: ‘liturgical or ritualized’ and ‘spontaneous or pastoral.’” While the first form cannot be used to bless adulterous couples and homosexual pairings, the second form is allowed.

Approved by Pope Francis and thus made part of his ordinary Magisterium, the FS states that there is 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.”¹

This statement contradicts a 2021 pronouncement by the same Vatican body titled Responsum, regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex,² also approved by Pope Francis. Responding to the question, “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” the answer was clear and incisive: “Negative.”

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The Responsum explains that “God Himself…he does not and cannot bless sin: he blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him.” Therefore, “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex in the sense intended above.”³

Blessing a Sinful Relationship

As bishops and theologians have commented, individuals in a state of sin can ask for a priestly blessing—a sacramental—to help them overcome sin. However, the seriousness of the FS innovation lies in blessing not individuals but rather in blessing the sinful relationship.

Thus, FS refers to people in same-sex and different-sex relationships as “couples.” It uses the expression “same-sex couples” five times and “couples in irregular situations” four times. Checking FS texts published by the Vatican in various languages, the noun that designates the subject of the “pastoral blessing” in Italian, Spanish, German and Polish is always the equivalent of “couple” found in the English text.

Therefore, one cannot deny the blessing is for a relationship that imitates marriage, not isolated individuals.

The sin of adultery is contrary to the Divine law. The sin of homosexual “couples” violates both Divine law and natural law. Two men or two women cannot form a couple in the normal, ordinary sense.

Claiming that it is based on the “pastoral vision of Pope Francis,” FS abandons the previous Magisterium of the Church on the matter. Instead, the document “implies a real development from what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and the official texts of the Church.”

FS Meets with Rejection

The backlash against this change in Catholic doctrine and morals on such a sensitive point as adulterous and homosexual “unions” was enormous and immediate.

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Upon the document’s release, cardinals, bishops, entire episcopal conferences (especially in Africa), priests, and laypeople criticized FS. Many bishops banned this type of “blessing” in their dioceses.⁴ On January 11, the President of the Association of Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar said that they agreed not to bless same-sex couples on the continent after consultation with each of the bishops’ conferences.⁵

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, former prefect of the Congregation, now Dicastery, for the Doctrine of the Faith, made a careful theological analysis of FS. He stated that “[t]his ‘pastoral blessing’ would be neither pastoral nor a blessing,” but something “sacrilegious and blasphemous,” and the priest who ministers it “commits a sacrilegious and blasphemous act against the Creator’s plan and against Christ’s death for us, which was meant to fulfill the Creator’s plan.”⁶

For his part, after refuting FS’s sophistries, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, commented:

“I must thank the Episcopal Conferences that have already done this work of truth, especially those in Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, etc., whose decisions and strong opposition to the ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ Declaration I share and make my own. It is necessary to encourage the other national or regional Episcopal Conferences and each bishop to do the same. In so doing, one is not opposing Pope Francis, but one is firmly and radically opposing a heresy that severely undermines the Church, Mystical Body of Christ because it runs counter to the Catholic faith and Tradition.”⁷

Most Rev. Giampaolo Crepaldi, the archbishop-bishop emeritus of Trieste, emphasized:

“It is beyond doubt that the problem of the blessings of irregular couples highlights a diversity of theological visions on vital issues within the Church. This is, after all, the crux of the matter that refers back to enormous anthropological, ecclesiological, sacramental and pastoral disputes concerning the value of salvation, the meaning of sexuality, the conception of sin, the power of the Church, etc.”⁸

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Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan, said: “This document clearly, albeit cunningly, undermines the natural and revealed law of God regarding marriage and the meaning and exercise of human sexuality. Therefore, it cannot be the expression of the Church’s authentic Magisterium and forfeits any binding authority.”⁹

An Explanation that Only Confirms the Error

Faced with this colossal backlash, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a January 4 statement titled Press Release concerning the reception of Fiducia supplicans.¹⁰

The Press Release (PR) uses the noun “couple” (nine times) to talk about adulterous and homosexual relationships. It insists that the new blessing does not contradict traditional doctrine because they are not “liturgical blessings” but only “pastoral” or “spontaneous” ones. At any rate, without going into whether a priestly blessing is liturgical or not, in the case of homosexuals, the object of that “pastoral” blessing is the sinful relationship of two people of the same sex, and one cannot call on God to bless sin.

On the other hand, against both evidence and common sense, the PR claims that the new “blessing” blesses only two individuals and not a “couple.” Why does he use the noun “couple” to refer to the two people who will be blessed together?

Cardinal Victor Fernandez uses a curious “theological” argument in his explanation: the “pastoral blessing” of “couples” would be legitimate because it is given very quickly. The new “blessings” take only a “few seconds.” They are a “non-ritualized form of blessing, [which] with the simplicity and brevity of its form does not intend to justify anything that is not morally acceptable.”

Can sinful relationships be blessed because the blessing is “brief,” “simple,” and “non-ritual?” These aspects are mere accidents and have no bearing on the essence of a blessing. A blessing is either good and legitimate or wrong. Its brevity does not make it lawful when applied to sinful relationships.

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The Cardinal adds still another reason: “It is clear that the Bishops [of Africa] do not wish to expose homosexual persons to violence” because “there are not a few countries that, to varying degrees, condemn, prohibit and criminalize homosexuality.”

He warns, however, that although these bishops may not administer the new blessing for local reasons, “[it] remains vital that these Episcopal Conferences do not support a doctrine different from that of the Declaration signed by the Pope, given that it is perennial doctrine.” Therefore, the doctrine contained in FS, widely criticized by cardinals and bishops, must be accepted even though it opposes the traditional doctrine of the Church.

However, this “perennial doctrine” is only based on the “pastoral vision of Pope Francis.” This doctrine is further complicated by the fact that the pope contradicted his own magisterium when he stated an opposite view in the 2021 Responsum, which he signed.

Fr. James Martin Rushes to Bless a Same-Sex “Couple”

The day after the publication of FS, The New York Times published a picture of Fr. James Martin, S.J., giving a blessing to two “married” homosexuals.¹¹ Father Martin, a notorious propagandist of the vice against nature,¹² is close to Pope Francis, who appointed him to the Vatican Department for Communications.¹³

One of the two men thus blessed made a statement published in the pro-homosexual propaganda blog Outreach, run by Father Martin. It illustrates well what they desired when receiving the “blessing” for same-sex “couples”:

“My husband Damian and I were blessed by Outreach editor James Martin, S.J., earlier this week. Just a day after the Vatican announced that priests could offer ‘the gift of blessing that flows from the Heart of Christ through his Church,’ we sought out Father Martin, who is a friend, mentor, ally and pastor. The New York Times was there to capture the moment.”

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Further on, he continued:

“Blessings for same-sex couples are powerful signs that couples like us share in the same channels of grace that all people enjoy. God gives grace to us, and we are agents of grace to others, both in the church and outside of it. No one is excluded from God’s abundant love. … I believe that our presence in the Catholic Church is helping Catholics be less homophobic .”¹⁴

Thus, the new “blessings” for same-sex “couples” are “powerful signs” of the Church’s acceptance of the sinful relationship against nature.

True priestly blessings are sacramentals and are indeed sacred signs aimed at spiritual effects and not to favor vices as found in anti-natural unions.¹⁵

Likewise, St. Paul Catholic Church in Lexington, Kentucky, posted this commentary on its Facebook page:

“January 1 at 6:02 PM. History was made Sunday at Historic Saint Paul Catholic Church. This same-sex couple, civilly married for 22 years, asked for a blessing, which Fr. Richard freely offered according to the guidelines in Fiducia Supplicans.”¹⁶ In the photo, a priest wearing a rainbow stole is blessing two women.

“Who Am I To Judge?”

In statements opposing FS, some bishops said they did not understand why Pope Francis had approved this document contrary to the Church’s tradition.

However, this step is just one of many he has taken to “normalize” homosexuality and adultery.¹⁷ Many examples related to this support for homosexuality are given below.

In July 2013, Pope Francis traveled to Brazil. On his return to Rome, he gave the first of his inflight interviews that have come to characterize this pontificate.

Responding to a journalist’s question about a homosexual scandal involving a priest,¹⁸ the pontiff said that a canonical investigation had not proven these accusations. He then concluded, “[I]f someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?” ¹⁹

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This ambiguous answer makes it seem that it is common for a person immersed in sins against nature to retain spiritual “goodwill” and be looking for God. In addition, Pope Francis does not mention sin at a time when unnatural vice has become commonplace, thus favoring the ongoing campaign to promote this sin.

The answer also suggests that no one, not even the pope, can judge someone for sinful external actions. Not judging sinners has been a constant of Francis’ pontificate. He only judges traditional Catholics—with sarcasm and sometimes brutality.²⁰

From his ambiguous response, the media highlighted “Who am I to judge?” a statement that became a slogan for the homosexual movement.

Gestures That Speak For Themselves

In addition to his ambiguous words, Pope Francis made gestures and took sympathetic attitudes toward people living in homosexual unions.

He received a homosexual pair at the United States nunciature on October 2, 2015, and allowed himself to be filmed being lovingly embraced by both—a video broadcast around the world.²¹ He invited two “married” lesbians (one posing as a man) to the Vatican and took photos with them.²² He appointed notorious homosexuals²³ and pro-homosexual clerics such as Father Martin S.J. to important posts. ²⁴ He wrote flattering letters to the pro-homosexual nun Sr. Jeannine Gramick²⁵ and the “Catholic” pro-homosexual movement New Ways Ministries, thanking them for their work.²⁶

Support for Same-sex Unions

Even before he was elected pope, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio supported “civil unions,” a civil “marriage” of sorts between two people of the same sex.

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The now Cardinal Victor Manual Fernandez, a close friend of Cardinal Bergoglio, posted on his Facebook page that the Archbishop of Buenos Aires “always recognized that, without calling it ‘marriage,’ in fact there are very close unions between people of the same sex, which do not in themselves imply sexual relations, but a very intense and stable alliance.”²⁷

At stake at the time of Cardinal Bergoglio’s statement was the discussion of a marriage equality law that allowed same-sex homosexual “marriage.”

Archbishop Hector Aguer, emeritus of La Plata, Argentina, recounts Cardinal Bergoglio’s attitude on that occasion. In a statement published on October 28, 2020, he affirmed:

“Actually, as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the then-Cardinal Bergoglio, in a Plenary Assembly of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, proposed that the State approve the lawfulness of civil unions of homosexual people as a possible alternative to what was-and is-called “matrimonio igualitario” [“marriage equality”]. At that time, a contrary argument was that marriage is not a mere political or sociological question but involves a moral judgment; consequently, one cannot promote the approval of civil laws contrary to the natural order. It was also recalled that this doctrine has been repeatedly stated in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. The plenary of the Argentine bishops rejected that proposal in a vote.”²⁸

As occupant of the Chair of Saint Peter, Pope Francis defended civil unions for homosexuals in the video Francesco sent worldwide.²⁹ Released on October 21, 2020, that video documentary directed by homosexual filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky³⁰ shocked millions of Catholics because Pope Francis visually endorsed the legalization of same-sex unions.

Here are the pope’s words, as they appear in the video:³¹ “Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it … What we have to create is a civil union law. That way, they are legally covered.”³²

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Finally, according to Most Rev. Johan Bonny, bishop of Antwerp, and Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville of Liège, Pope Francis was aware of the liturgical ceremonies performed in Belgium to bless “same-sex” pairs.³³

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In a book-length interview with French sociologist Dominique Wolton in 2017, Pope Francis declared that “there is a great danger for preachers, that of falling into mediocrity. Condemning only morality—forgive the expression—‘below the belt.’”³⁴

In Portugal, answering a question from a Jesuit about homosexuals, Pope Francis said, “What I don’t like at all, in general, is that we look at the so-called ‘sin of the flesh’ with a magnifying glass, just as we have done for so long for the sixth commandment. If you exploited workers, if you lied or cheated, it didn’t matter, and instead sins below the waist were relevant.”³⁵

Cardinal Fernandez’ “Mystical” Eroticism

FS was written by Pope Francis’ friend and “ghostwriter,” Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, who was appointed as the head of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.

To better understand FS, it helps to know that when a priest, this prelate, also known by his nickname “Tucho,” wrote two erotic-mystical books. The first book, The Art of Kissing, in 1995, illustrated with erotic photos and suggests a mystical dimension to kissing.³⁶

Three years later, then Father Fernandez wrote another book, Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality,³⁷ which makes entirely clear the mysticism-eroticism hinted at in his first book.

Recent news of this work shocked the Catholic world with its explicit language, use of sexual imagery, and descriptions of erotic mysticism, which “can also be a sublime act of worshipping God.” The Cardinal even suggests that, through homosexual experiences, a “person can do things that are objectively a sin but not be guilty and not lose God’s grace or the experience of his love.”³⁸

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The Church has always condemned doctrines of erotic mysticism that have arisen throughout her history. She affirms that circumstances do not substantially modify something intrinsically evil, such as the sin of sodomy.³⁹

Let Us Have Confidence Despite the “Smoke of Satan”

By a mysterious design of Providence, the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ has passed through and continues to pass through crises that often seem about to destroy her. Faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), is disfigured in such crises by conforming to the dictates of the world, its pomps and works (1 John 2:16). Yet, as the Apostle of Love reminds us, “the whole world is seated in wickedness” (1 John 5:19).

As a result, love for God, the ardent charity that makes us share in His supernatural life and love our neighbor for His sake, turns into romantic and naturalistic sentimentality and gives rise to a false mercy that encourages sinners to remain in sin instead of leaving it.

The “smoke of Satan,” which clouds people’s minds, weakens their will and encourages sin and vice, seems to have penetrated the sanctuary.⁴⁰

But Our Lord has promised to be with His Church “even until the consummation of the ages” (Matt 28:20) and to send the Holy Spirit, “[t]he spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive” (John 14:17) to strengthen our faith.

The Church is holy and true by its very nature and remains “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15); even when this demonic smoke clouds her face, making it difficult to see her brilliance and splendor. And it guides us to the Savior like the Star of Bethlehem, which led the Magi to the manger of the Divine Infant.

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Despite the reigning confusion, thanks to the “sensus fidei fidelis that enables the believer to judge spontaneously whether a particular teaching or practice is or is not in conformity with the Gospel and with apostolic faith,”⁴¹ we can remain faithful to the Church’s faith and morals.

Moreover, our confidence is further strengthened by Our Lady’s promise at Fatima: “Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Let us keep praying and fighting against the doctrinal and moral deviations we witness.

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