LONDON — Members of a group of British priests and deacons have expressed their opposition to Pope Francis’ new declaration allowing the blessing of same-sex couples and others living in “irregular” relationships, saying they consider such blessings to be “pastorally and practically inadmissible.” 

In a statement issued Dec. 21, the British Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, which has 500 members, said the declaration, Fiducia Supplicans, was released at a time of “widespread confusion over Catholic doctrine on same-sex unions and sexual behavior outside marriage.” 

They therefore say they feel impelled to re-assert the traditional teaching of the Church which, they stressed, “remains unchanged and unchangeable.” 

Fiducia supplicans (Supplicating Trust), published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and approved by Pope Francis on Dec. 18, allows for non-liturgical blessings that are “spontaneous,” provided they aren’t connected to attire and other ceremonial trappings that would imply that the priest is sanctioning the couple’s union or lifestyle. 

Established during Benedict XVI’s “Year for Priests” in 2010, the British Confraternity of Catholic Clergy is part of an international association of clergy that offers formation and fraternal support to help priests and deacons lead an authentic priestly life. 

Not all 500 confraternity members were asked to sign the statement, but a member said he would be “surprised if more than 1% of the membership were unhappy with the present statement.”

In the group’s statement, the confraternity members recognize the “noble pastoral desire” to help such people “move forward by renewal of life and the call to conversion, building on aspects of natural good will and virtue.” But the statement says the signers “see no situation in which such a blessing of a couple could be properly and adequately distinguished from some level of approval.”

Given such a context, the statement says that any such blessings “would inevitably lead to scandal — to the individuals concerned, to those involved directly or indirectly in the blessing, or to the minister himself.”

The statement also expresses the clergy’s concern that conducting such blessings “would confuse the faithful over the actual theology of marriage and human sexuality.” Such confusion and misunderstandings, the statement adds, could already be seen in responses to the declaration made in the media. 

“We believe that genuine charity always follows true doctrine and that such blessings would work against the legitimate care a priest owes to his flock,” the confraternity said. Noting Pope Francis’ call for parrhesia (frankness), the statement says that “from our own experience as pastors we conclude that such blessings are pastorally and practically inadmissible.” 

The group’s Dec. 21 statement quotes paragraph 2357 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that Sacred Scripture teaches that homosexual acts are “acts of grave depravity,” and that tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” 

Such acts, the catechism adds, “are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” 

The clergy’s statement also quotes paragraph 2391, which states that “carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life between a man and woman has been established.” 

Speaking to the Register on condition of anonymity, a member of the British confraternity said that he and his brother priests “are really upset about these proposed blessings because they cannot in conscience perform them.” 

“They fear that many people will misunderstand these blessings and that some will lose their faith over them,” he added. “The priests know that already some bishops and priests are giving approval to same-sex unions, and they will use this new document for their own agendas.”