Bishop of Peru challenges the Vatican: the ecclesiastical text that calls for disobedience prohibits blessing homosexual couples

Monsignor Rafael Escudero, a postcard from the Vatican and Pope Francis in archive photographs. Photo: Andina/EFE

In an unpublished pastoral message that attracted the attention of the international press, including the media of the Catholic Church, the prelate bishop of Moyobamba, Monsignor Rafael Escudero, harshly criticized the ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ declaration, a document released last December by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the blessing of same-sex couples or “irregular situations”.

With a marked homophobic tendency, the prelate of Spanish nationality invited the priests under his jurisdiction not to respect the ecclesiastical text, since, in his opinion, these blessings contravene “the communion” of the institution, constitute “a serious abuse of the Most Holy Name.” of God” and represent an “objectively sinful form of fornication, adultery or, even worse, homosexual activity”.

“Moreover, in the latter case it must be underlined that ‘homosexual acts are disordered and, above all, contrary to natural law’ […] God never blesses sin. God does not contradict himself. God doesn’t lie to us. God, who always loves the sinner unconditionally, precisely for this reason tries to make him repent, convert and live”, continues the letter collected by ACI Prensa, the Catholic news agency based in Lima.

Escudero’s position distances itself from that expressed by Pope Francis at the beginning of last year, when he condemned the criminalization of homosexual relationships around the world. “Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice. I’m not talking about groups, that’s another thing, lobbies are another thing. «I’m talking about people and already in the catechism of the Church it says that no one must be marginalized», he declared at the time.

Pope Francis gives his blessing while reciting the Angelus prayer from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter’s Square, in the Vatican, Sunday, January 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

In ‘Fiducia Supplicans’, the Argentine cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, believes that «one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples, without officially validating their ‘ status’ nor alter in any way the perennial teaching of the Church on Marriage.”

This faculty, which follows the will of the pontiff, represented a change of position compared to the one that the Congregation published in March 2021 – then directed by the Spaniard Luis Ladaria Ferrer – when it indicated that the Church could not impart its blessing to unions of people of the same sex.

The declaration of last December, which analyzes the origin and theological meaning of the act of blessing, retracing it starting from the Old Testament and in the Scriptures, was the first that the Doctrine of the Faith, the ancient Holy Office, has published in the last 23 years, since “Dominus Gesù” (2000).

“In his mystery of love, through Christ, God communicates to his Church the power to bless. Granted by God to human beings and granted by them to others, the blessing is transformed into inclusion, solidarity and pacification. It is a positive message of comfort, attention and encouragement,” we read in the text.

In 2019, Monsignor Rafael Escudero participated as a speaker in the Synod for the Amazon, convened by Pope Francis in Rome

Despite the opening of the blessing of these couples, the Vatican continues to consider “inadmissible” any “rite or prayer that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage”, such as those carried out by the German clergy, who offer “acts of blessing” despite the disagreement of the Holy See.

“A rite of blessing for couples in an irregular situation should not be promoted or foreseen, but neither should the closeness of the Church be prevented or prohibited in every situation in which God’s help is requested through a simple blessing”, states the Doctrine .

The blessing of homosexual or “irregular” couples, i.e. not canonically married by the Church, can be preceded by a “short prayer”, in which the priest can ask for those blessed “peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue and mutual help” .

However, Monsignor Escudero believed that “this distinction leaves one perplexed and confused, since the act of blessing, whether performed in a liturgical assembly or in private, imparted by a minister, continues to be a blessing of the same nature”.

For the prelate, who in 2019 was speaker at the Synod for the Amazon convened by Francis in Rome, the underlying problem is more serious, since some bishops and priests “have long confused the people of God with the indiscriminate blessing of these unions are objectively disordered and, therefore, sinful, incurring a horrendous sacrilege.”

It occurs in a country where more than 1.7 million citizens identify as non-heterosexual and where there are no policies such as gender identity, trans quota, civil union or equal marriage. According to a survey cited by the Ombudsman’s Office, 19% of Peruvians agree with the position of the bishop of Moyobamba and believe that homosexuality is a disease.

2024-01-08 01:34:00
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