Ukrainian Catholic Church REJECTS Fiducia Supplicans

Pope Francis’ recent document, “Fiducia Supplicans,” has generated heated debate within the Church and civil society because it approves blessing same-sex couples (not the relationship) under very strict conditions.

However, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, released a document saying that the church rejects “Fiducia Supplicans.”

Here are some reasons given in the document.

“Fiducia Supplicans” is for the Latin Church, not the Eastern churches.
“It does not address questions of Catholic faith or morals, nor does it refer to any prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), nor does it mention Eastern Christians. Thus, on the basis of Canon 1492 of the CCEO, this Declaration applies exclusively to the Latin Church and has no legal force for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.”

The Eastern churches have their own spiritual heritage in addition to that shared with the Latin Church.
“The meaning of ‘blessing’ in the UGCC and the Latin Church is different. According to the liturgical practice of our Church, the blessing of a priest or bishop is a liturgical gesture that cannot be separated from the rest of the content of the liturgical rites and reduced to the circumstances and needs of private piety.”

The word “blessing” has a very specific meaning for Eastern Catholics.
“The concept of ‘blessing’ means approval, permission or even a spiritual directive for a certain type of action, prayer or ascetic practice.…the blessing of a priest always has an Evangelical and Catechetical dimension and therefore can in no way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble and fruitful union of love between a man and a woman.”

You can read the remainder of the Major Archbishop’s letter here.