CV NEWS FEED // The African Bishops’ Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) stated this week that “for pastoral reasons,” blessings “for same sex unions of any kind, are not permitted in Malawi.”
The ECM issued the December 19 letter to address Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican “Declaration on the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings” which opened the door for priests to potentially give blessings to same-sex couples and “those in irregular situations” such as divorced and remarried couples.
Theologians, priests, bishops, laypeople, and mainstream media outlets met Fiducia Supplicans with wildly varied responses.
The ECM wrote in the introduction to their letter:
We, your Bishops, [are issuing clarifications] having noted certain erroneous interpretations of this declaration that have generated interest, fears and worries amongst Catholics and people who look up to the Catholic Church for moral, spiritual and doctrinal guidance.
“The Declaration is NOT about the blessing of same sex unions and sacramental endorsement of the same as married couples,” the letter read:
No, this is a document prompted by questions to the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith regarding whether or not the blessings of God through his Ministers can be extended to everybody regardless of their state hence the title of the document “On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings” and NOT on the blessing of same sex unions.
The ECM letter recalled teachings of the Church about marriage and about ordinary blessings, stressing that the Church’s definition of marriage “remains firm.”
To “avoid creating confusion among the faithful we direct that for pastoral reasons, blessings of any kind … for same sex unions of any kind, are not permitted in Malawi,” the ECM wrote:
The Declaration, while differentiating the meaning and levels of various blessings reiterates that the Church’s teaching on Marriage defined as “an exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children” remains firm.
Therefore, the Declaration says, rites and prayers, that could create a confusion between what constitutes marriage and what contradicts it are not allowed. The same document stresses that “the Church has always considered only those sexual relations that are lived out within marriage to be morally licit.”
The ECM added that ordinary blessings “are to be given to anybody and anything bearing in mind that the great blessing of God is Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word with whom the Father blessed us while we were still sinners.”
“It is in this context that same sex union couples or those living in irregular unions can ask and access non-liturgical ordinary blessings which the Church has always given to whoever asks of them,” they continued:
In doing so, we should be careful that such blessings should not be confused as “a liturgical or semi-liturgical act, similar to a Sacrament” and that such “decisions that may be part of pastoral prudence in certain circumstances should not necessarily become the norm” for “the Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when that would somehow offer a form of moral legitimate union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice”.
After stating that blessings of same-sex couples are not permitted in Malawi, the ECM concluded:
While we understand the legitimate interest and fears this Declaration has generated, we wish to assure all Catholics and all those interested in Catholic teaching that the teaching of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on Marriage remains the one indicated in Paragraph 4: “an exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children.”
