Blessing people in ‘irregular’ relationships is not doctrinal error, theologian says

by CNS · Published August 3, 2024 · Updated August 3, 2024

Pope Francis speaks to members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the end of their plenary assembly at the Vatican Jan. 26, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By Carol Glatz, CNS – There have been “various signs” in modern times that have prompted a new awareness of the Gospel and how great God’s love for humanity is, a theologian and consultor for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said.

These signs include the Catholic Church’s hope of salvation for infants who die without being baptised, the inadmissibility of the death penalty and the recent declaration opening the possibility of non-liturgical blessings to gay and other couples not married in the church, the consultor, Michelina Tenace, said in an article published in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, July 30.

The nearly 3,000-word article titled, “A ‘trust’ that invites us to supplicate,” revisited the meaning and intention of the declaration, “Fiducia Supplicans” (“Supplicating Trust”), on “the pastoral meaning of blessings,” published by the dicastery in 2023 and approved by Pope Francis. Tenace, who is a consecrated laywoman and theologian, was one of the three women the pope appointed to the dicastery in 2018 to be active contributors as consultors. It was the first time women and laypeople were appointed to that role in the doctrinal office.

The declaration, she wrote, echoes Pope Francis’ invitation “to look at the mystery of the human condition from the ‘peripheries’ of the church,” like the shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep.

“The shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep is not failing to care for those who have come into the fold,” she wrote. “On the contrary, the shepherd hopes that the danger he puts himself into in order to save the one (sheep) will be an occasion to strengthen prayer for him, the shepherd,” and to increase “compassion for the sheep in distress and gratitude on the part of those who dwell in ‘his’ home.”

She wrote that the declaration reflects that teaching and “takes into consideration the fact that when the children (of God) implore with trust — according to the measure of the wound of their heart — the Father’s response is according to the infinite measure of mercy.”

Over time, the pronouncements and gestures of the church demonstrate a theological coherence that supports its doctrine, Tenace wrote.

After the dicastery’s response in 2021, which determined the church does not have the power to give a blessing to unions of persons of the same sex, the dicastery offered a new and “innovative” way to look at blessings with its declaration in 2023, she wrote.

The novelty, she wrote, is determining that “what is not possible in a sacramental liturgical context is possible in a pastoral practice, without changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage,” which is only a life-long union between a man and a woman.

“Fiducia supplicans” confirms the doctrine on the sacrament of marriage while allowing ministers to take care and respond to the request of people who live “in a union that cannot be compared in any way to a marriage and who 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,” she wrote, citing the declaration.

Therefore, she wrote, “The gesture of blessing two persons in an irregular situation should not be considered an error or infidelity to Catholic doctrine.”