![\"fiducia](\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fiducia_supplicans_marx.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What does Fiducia supplicans<\/strong> really say, and why are the German bishops betraying<\/strong> it? At the forefront is the lavishly progressive Card. Reinhard Marx<\/strong>.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pressure campaign has begun.<\/p>\n The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx<\/strong><\/mark>, has instructed his priests and pastoral workers to officially adopt the German guidelines that provide for blessings for irregular couples<\/strong>.<\/p>\n These directives are contained in the document “Blessing Strengthens Love<\/a>“<\/i><\/strong>, which, however, openly contradicts<\/strong> the indications of the magisterial document “Fiducia supplicans”<\/i>.<\/p>\n Indeed, Leo XIV<\/strong> immediately intervened<\/a><\/em><\/strong>: \u201cThe Holy See has clarified that we do not agree<\/strong> with the formalized blessing of couples\u201d<\/i> in irregular situations, \u201cbeyond what was specifically permitted by Pope Francis.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The German document, which emerged from the Synod of local bishops, provides that ministers should bless all couples<\/strong> who love one another, including same-sex couples and divorced-and-remarried couples, inserting these celebrations into structured settings complete with sacred music, biblical readings, and a defined ceremonial format.<\/p>\n In fact, it seeks to accommodate all \u201ccouples requesting a blessing for their union<\/strong>\u201d<\/i> and \u201cfor their relationship.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n By contrast, Fiducia supplicans<\/i><\/a><\/em><\/strong> states that such blessings are intended only for irregular couples \u201cwho do not claim<\/strong> legitimization for their own status,\u201d<\/i> a gesture that \u201cdoes not seek to sanction or legitimize<\/strong> anything,\u201d<\/i> but rather allows people to \u201cexperience the closeness of the Father\u201d<\/i> and invites them \u201cto invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived more faithfully.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Although it specifies that such blessings must not be confused \u201cwith the liturgical celebration of the sacrament of marriage,\u201d<\/i> the German guidelines nonetheless guarantee an \u201coverall aesthetic experience (including music and hymns<\/strong>)\u201d<\/i> intended to demonstrate \u201cesteem for the persons requesting the blessing.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n To this end, ministers are instructed to select \u201cappropriate biblical texts<\/strong> to be read and interpreted during the blessing,\u201d<\/i> concluding the gesture with \u201cpraise to God.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n This solemn structuring, however, is radically opposed<\/strong> to what is stated in the Vatican document, which repeatedly warns that the blessing \u201cmust not<\/strong> be incorporated into a liturgical rite,\u201d<\/i> must remain spontaneous and \u201cnon-ritualized\u201d<\/i> in order to avoid \u201cbecoming a liturgical or semi-liturgical act,\u201d<\/i> and therefore \u201cone must neither promote nor provide<\/strong> a ritual for the blessings of couples in irregular situations.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n “Fiducia supplicans”<\/i><\/strong> goes into even greater detail when, \u201cin order to avoid<\/strong> any form of confusion or scandal,\u201d<\/i> it requires that blessings for irregular couples \u201cmust never be performed<\/strong> in conjunction with civil union ceremonies, nor in connection with them. Not even with clothing, gestures, or words proper to a wedding.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the subsequent clarification<\/a><\/em><\/strong> provided by Prefect Cardinal Fern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>, dated January 4, 2024, it was further specified that these are merely \u201cbrief and simple<\/strong> pastoral blessings (neither liturgical nor ritualized) for irregular couples (not for the unions themselves), without any liturgical form, which neither approve nor justify the situation in which these persons find themselves.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Fern\u00e1ndez further explains that such blessings are a \u201csimple gesture of pastoral closeness<\/strong>\u201d<\/i> intended \u201cto foster openness to God amid the most varied circumstances,\u201d<\/i> and not<\/strong>, on the contrary, \u201ca consecration of the person or couple receiving it,\u201d<\/i> nor \u201ca justification of all their actions,\u201d<\/i> much less \u201ca ratification of the life they are living.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n For this reason, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith established very strict practical guidelines<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Therefore, while the Church<\/strong> allows \u201cspontaneous or pastoral\u201d blessings for irregular couples, the German bishops<\/strong> are turning them into \u201cliturgical or ritualized\u201d blessings for irregular unions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is highly likely that the document “Fiducia supplicans”<\/i> was created precisely to restrain the tendency<\/strong> of many dioceses, including those in Germany, to publicly and formally celebrate liturgical blessings for irregular couples.<\/p>\n The timing makes this clear.<\/p>\n In 2021<\/strong>, the Vatican attempted to intervene in order to limit the phenomenon, but the German response was one of protest<\/strong>, including the organization of public celebrations specifically intended for such blessings.<\/p>\n Then, in March 2023<\/strong>, participants in the German Synodal Way called for the official introduction<\/strong> of blessing ceremonies in all German parishes, even preparing an actual ritual model very similar to a wedding ceremony.<\/p>\n A few months later, in December 2023<\/strong>, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published “Fiducia supplicans”<\/i><\/strong> in order to address the issue in an authoritative and binding manner.<\/p>\n As has been reconstructed<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, this position deeply unsettled the German Bishops\u2019 Conference, which abandoned<\/strong> publication of the guidelines requested by the Synodal Way, at least until April 23, 2025<\/strong>, two days after the death of Pope Francis.<\/p>\n Although the document bears the date April 4, when Bergoglio was already in very poor health, many considered it evident that the German bishops waited for a period of papal interregnum<\/strong> before publishing the text, which openly challenges the restrictions imposed by “Fiducia supplicans”<\/i>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today Cardinal Marx<\/strong>, leader of the German progressive bloc, has called for<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the official implementation of the ritual model that emerged from the German Synod within his diocese.<\/p>\n The cardinal therefore intends to openly challenge Rome<\/strong>, while in his own country he is already heavily criticized for the lavish salary<\/strong> he receives monthly from the state as a public official.<\/p>\n While his Italian counterparts receive<\/a><\/em><\/strong> around \u20ac4,000<\/strong> gross per month (and priests barely reach \u20ac1,200 monthly), Marx benefits from<\/a><\/em><\/strong> a monthly income of \u20ac14,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A great deal of money, though certainly worth less than 30 pieces of silver<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does Fiducia supplicans really say, and why are the German bishops betraying it? Leading the charge is Card. Reinhard Marx.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":623,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2192,2191,2193],"class_list":["post-62650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cardinal-reinhard-marx","tag-fiducia-supplicans","tag-german-synod"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe German Synod vs. Fiducia supplicans<\/h2>\n
The clarification from the prefect<\/h2>\n
\n
Where Fiducia supplicans came from<\/h2>\n
Cardinal Marx and the 30 pieces of silver<\/h2>\n