“Fiducia supplicans” / Appeal to the Holy See
Appeal to the Holy See
In connection with the statement Fiducia supplicans, published on December 18, 2023 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the bishops, priests and faithful of the Catholic Church who support the present document respectfully express their position as believers, whereby they reject the statement sharply and without reservation. Despite the lack of legal and moral value of the statement in question, they recognize its strong media impact and consequently are seriously concerned for the reasons listed below.
- It is absolutely not permissible to misuse the Most Holy Name of God to publicly approve, by a liturgical act, what He condemns – according to the immutable judgment of Scripture, the Tradition and the Magisterium – as it is contrary to the natural order established by Him.
- The dignity of the Catholic Church, the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15), is harmed in an intolerable way in the face of non-Catholics, non-Christians and non-believers. Those who, under the action of the Holy Spirit, intend to enter the Catholic Church may be restrained from doing so by this and other scandalous acts, with grave prejudice to their eternal salvation.
- There are many Catholics, clerical and lay, who are confused or diverted in conscience by the fact that sacred ministers are authorized to impart blessings to people who are living permanently in manifest mortal sin and do not intend to withdraw from their state by sincere repentance and appropriate penance. This seriously misleads them in the objective evaluation of acts that are intrinsically evil.
- In several countries around the world, priests who refuse to impart the blessings authorized by the Fiducia supplicans statement can be prosecuted by the civil justice system and even risk imprisonment for doing their duty. The Holy See is obliged to defend and protect the ministers of the Church wherever they work, rather than exposing them to persecution.
- Even priests who do not face judicial risks are seriously harmed in reputation and honor, since people may legitimately assume, by virtue of the decision made by the supreme authority, that they are in agreement. This disqualifies them both as men and as sacred ministers and constitutes a form of defamation of the entire Catholic clergy, to which we object firmly.
We therefore appeal to the Roman Pontiff to withdraw or correct the declaration Fiducia supplicans. We also hereby request that full light be shed on the case of the Saint Pius X Preseminary, given the narrow scope of the trial held in the Vatican in 2021. The state of health of the Church militant is necessarily linked to the moral rehabilitation of the Roman Curia. Therefore, should this request not be met, we reserve the right to proceed with an independent inquiry.
A Group of Catholics
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Please send to the following addresses:
His Holiness Francesco
00120 Città del Vaticano
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández
Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
00120 Città del Vaticano
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie (Rom 1:24-25).
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51).
Cursed are those who deviate from your precepts (Ps 118[119]:21).
