On Dec. 18 the Vatican issued Fiducia Supplicans, a “Declaration on the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings.” It’s a meaningful action to be sure; the Vatican has not issued a declaration on any topic in more than 20 years. According to the liturgy office for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, “A declaration is a papal document that can take one of three forms: 1) a simple statement of the law interpreted according to existing Church law; 2) an authoritative declaration that requires no additional promulgation; or 3) an extensive declaration, which modifies the law and requires additional promulgation.” And the purpose of this declaration is to expand “the pastoral meaning of blessings.” In part, it is a clarification of the Vatican’s 2021 responsum, which taught that “the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit.”

The most important point is that Fiducia Supplicans does not overrule or set aside the responsum. At every turn, it confirms the teaching of the Catholic Church about same-sex and other relationships that do not qualify for the sacrament of marriage.

[Obviously, I agree with Bursch on the document itself. But critics also have a point about the needless ambiguity introduced in 2021 with Pope Francis’ responsum, which is what necessitated this declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Inquisition). That ambiguity fed the global secular media’s desire to turn everything into a referendum on LGBTQ policy, and it’s still creating mischief among that activist set. — Ed]