Bishop Adair Guimarães via Youtube
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Adair José Guimarães of Formosa, Brazil, has announced that the Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans authorizing blessings for “same-sex couples” will not be implemented in his diocese.
Guimarães announced on December 23 at the end of a priestly ordination Mass that “in the diocese of Formosa the requests and suggestions from the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will not be observed.”
In his short statement, the bishop said he would not go into “the merit of the theology, or the pastoral and moral dimension of this declaration, nor its opportunity at this time,” but highlighted that the Vatican statement has “sparked great debates in the media and apprehension among the faithful.”
Guimarães also said he consulted several lay leaders and priests of the Diocese of Formosa as to whether carrying out such blessings “would cause scandal and misunderstanding, as the declaration itself foresees this for the analysis of the bishops.”
According to Guimarães, “the laity were unanimous in saying yes,” the blessings would cause scandal. Of the priests who responded, practically all said “the application (of the Vatican document) would bring misunderstanding and scandal,” he added.
The bishop said he also met with the presbyteral council and the college of consultants of the diocese and “everyone was unanimous” in saying that the diocese of Formosa “is not in a position to implement these suggestions.”
