Bishops Can Turn the New “Blessings Text” Into a Virtue, by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Dec 22, 2023

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org.

Note at 9:10 pm EST 12/22/2023: Given the rapidity with which opposition by bishops around the world had grown to the new instruction on blessings for same-sex couples since I first began working on this article on Thursday the 21st, and even since I initially posted it earlier in the afternoon today, I found it necessary to make some revisions and repost it.

In the interval not only did I become aware of the increasing worldwide resistance but I learned that the notorious Fr. James Martin, SJ had already made a photo-op out of the new instruction by arranging to bless a gay couple for the benefit of a photographer for the New York Times.

This pro-LGBTQ+ posturing was, of course, predictable. But I did not anticipate such widespread and salutary opposition among the world’s bishops, which raises important questions (as yet unanswered) about how the Pope will respond.

After writing my assessment on Monday of the new DDF text on blessings, Fiducia Supplicans, I’ve spent some time following the reactions. Nobody will be surprised that a few bishops have celebrated the DDF statement as, in effect, making the sky the limit, along with other LGBTQ+ advocates. That is not what the text says, but all serious observers expect it to precipitate precisely this sort of result. After all, human understanding is always contextual. One of our intellectual capacities is the ability to read between the lines.

We could, of course, reverse the old joke by asking: What part of “Yes” do we not understand? This is all the more tempting when the text itself states explicitly that the Holy See does not want to be bothered further about this question, nor does it want bishops or even episcopal conferences to establish particular liturgical or paraliturgical forms for such blessings. Pope Francis wants priestly blessings to be a matter of pastoral accompaniment in each situation. Such blessings, the text makes very clear, are to be personal, pastoral and situationally appropriate invocations of God. It warns that these are not to be formalized in any sort of published guidelines. ….

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