(ZENIT News / Rome, 03.27.2024).- The Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox Church published a document titled “On the Orthodox Attitude towards the New Practice of Blessing ‘Couples in Irregular Situations and Same-Sex Couples’ in the Roman Catholic Church” on March 25 on its official website. This document, drafted by direction of Patriarch Kirill, by the Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission chaired by Hilarion (Alfeev), Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary, offers some considerations in response to the Fiducia Supplicans declaration published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on December 18, 2023.
The text begins with an introduction noting that the ideas expressed in the Fiducia Supplicans declaration represent a significant departure from Christian moral teaching and require theological analysis. Addressing the classification of blessings into “classic” and “extended,” the document emphasizes that God’s love for humanity cannot be the basis for blessing couples in sinful cohabitation. It underscores that pastoral care must combine a clear indication of the inadmissibility of a sinful lifestyle with love that leads to repentance.
In the document’s second part, the discrepancy between the definition of marriage contained in the Fiducia Supplicans declaration and Orthodox teaching is highlighted, arguing that the declaration effectively equates same-sex couples with extramarital cohabitation of heterosexual couples.
The third part of the document addresses reactions within the Catholic world to the Fiducia Supplicans declaration. It concludes that the one-sided and incomplete understanding of God’s love for humanity that emerges from the declaration is theologically dangerous, as it removes the concepts of sin and repentance from the relationship between God and humanity.
The Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission expresses its duty to respond to these radical innovations that reject the morally revealed norms of Christianity. Although the Fiducia Supplicans declaration is an internal document of the Catholic Church, the Moscow Patriarchate considers it necessary to address these fundamental ethical and theological issues.
The Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate has published a note on its official website presenting the document drafted by the Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission. This document is expected to generate debates and reflections in religious and social spheres in the coming days.
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