The official response of the Ukranian Catholic Church regarding "FIDUCIA SUPPLICANS"
COMMUNICATION
regarding the reception in the UGCC of the declaration of the Dicastery of Creed "FIDUCIA SUPPLICANS"
on the pastoral significance of blessings
Responding to the numerous appeals of bishops, clergy, monasticism, church movements and individual laymen of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church regarding the Declaration of the Dicastery of the Creed "Fiducia Supplicans" (December 18, 2023) on the pastoral meaning of blessings, after consultations with relevant experts and competent institutions, I would like to inform as follows:
1. The aforementioned Declaration interprets the pastoral meaning of blessings in the Latin Church, not in the Eastern Catholic Churches. It does not address questions of Catholic faith or morals, does not provide any precepts of the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches, and does not mention Eastern Christians. Therefore, on the basis of canon. 1492 of the CCC, this Declaration concerns purely the Latin Church and has no legal force for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.
2. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, therefore it has its own liturgical, theological, canonical and spiritual heritage, which all the faithful are obliged to observe and which they must cherish (CCC, canons 39-41). The meaning of the concept of "blessing" in the UGCC and the Latin Church is different.
3. 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 liturgical rites and reduced only to the circumstances and needs of private piety (Catechism of the UGCC "Christ is our Passover", paragraphs 505-509) .
4. According to the traditions of the Byzantine rite, the concept of "blessing" means approval, permission or even an order regarding a certain type of actions, prayer and ascetic practices, in particular certain types of fasting and prayer. It is obvious that the blessing from the priest always has an evangelistic and catechetical dimension, therefore it cannot in any 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, which our Lord Jesus Christ raised to the dignity of the Holy Sacraments of Marriage. Pastoral promptness prompts us to avoid ambiguous gestures, statements and concepts that would distort or distort the word of God and the teachings of the Church.
God's blessing on you!
† SVIATOSLAV
