- Feb 5, 2002
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Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has deniedthat the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith approved recent guidelines for blessings of same-sex couples issued by the German bishops’ conference.
The conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing has claimed the controversial text, issued during the papal interregnum, had been created “transparently in consultation with this dicastery.”
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández attends the consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2023. © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk.
Responding to questions from The Pillar on Oct. 8, Cardinal Fernández said that “the DDF didn’t approve anything [of the irregular unions’ guidelines], and wrote a letter some time ago reminding [the German bishops] that [Fiducia supplicans] excluded any form of ritualization, just as the pope has said.”
Fernández’ statement to The Pillar follows other media reports this week calling into question recent claims by German bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing, who said last month that the Vatican had been consulted on the development of controversial guidelines issued in April, days after the death of Pope Francis.
“We have developed this paper transparently with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with this dicastery,” Bätzing said on Sept. 22. “So for anyone who might now ask, there is no reason to withdraw it.”
Bätzing claimed in a press conference to open the German bishops’ plenary meeting last month that the handbook, titled “Blessings Give Love Strength” and published in April, “is a pastoral concretization of Fiducia supplicanscreated in consultation with the Roman Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith about the situation in Germany”
The bishop insisted that the German bishops had “prepared these guidelines transparently with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Dicastery.”
But according to Fernandez, there was little in the text’s development which could be described as consultation, and the dicastery’s intervention was critical of the German bishops’ efforts.
Continued below.
www.pillarcatholic.com
The conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing has claimed the controversial text, issued during the papal interregnum, had been created “transparently in consultation with this dicastery.”
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández attends the consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2023. © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk.
Responding to questions from The Pillar on Oct. 8, Cardinal Fernández said that “the DDF didn’t approve anything [of the irregular unions’ guidelines], and wrote a letter some time ago reminding [the German bishops] that [Fiducia supplicans] excluded any form of ritualization, just as the pope has said.”
Fernández’ statement to The Pillar follows other media reports this week calling into question recent claims by German bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing, who said last month that the Vatican had been consulted on the development of controversial guidelines issued in April, days after the death of Pope Francis.
“We have developed this paper transparently with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with this dicastery,” Bätzing said on Sept. 22. “So for anyone who might now ask, there is no reason to withdraw it.”
Bätzing claimed in a press conference to open the German bishops’ plenary meeting last month that the handbook, titled “Blessings Give Love Strength” and published in April, “is a pastoral concretization of Fiducia supplicanscreated in consultation with the Roman Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith about the situation in Germany”
The bishop insisted that the German bishops had “prepared these guidelines transparently with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Dicastery.”
But according to Fernandez, there was little in the text’s development which could be described as consultation, and the dicastery’s intervention was critical of the German bishops’ efforts.
Continued below.
Fernández: DDF ‘did not approve anything’ on German same-sex blessings handbook
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has denied that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith approved recent guidelines for blessings of same-sex couples issued by the German bishops’ conference.
www.pillarcatholic.com
