Michael Pakaluk, an Aristotle scholar and Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is a professor in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. He lives in Hyattsville, MD with his wife Catherine, also a professor at the Busch School, and their eight children. His acclaimed book on the Gospel of Mark is The Memoirs of St Peter.
Note: Be sure not to miss tonight’s 8 PM broadcast of EWTN’s “The World Over.” Fr. Gerald Murray, Robert Royal, and host Raymond Arroyo (“The Papal Posse”) will be discussing the latest document released by the Vatican — Fiducia Supplicans — which has raised a firestorm of commentary in its claims that priests may perform blessings of “same-sex couples” (as long as such blessings don’t give the impression of being the equivalent of marriage), while maintaining that it’s impossible for the Church to bless “same-sex unions.” This will be one not to miss. And, as always, episodes of the show will be available on the EWTN YouTube channel shortly after first broadcast.
The U.S. Bishops issued a statement earlier this week on the Declaration Fiducia supplicans, reassuring the faithful that “The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed.” But to say this is to miss the point, wildly. More pertinent is whether the Church’s teaching on non-procreative sex acts has changed; also, whether by the Declaration the Church now wishes to recognize a distinct type of relationship, which it regards as good – call it “spousal friendship between members of the same sex.” Either change would mark a major shift in the Church’s teaching on human nature and, it seems, a repudiation of St. John Paul II’s theology of the body.
