The Cardinal Radcliffe and blessings: Can Rome remain silent?

After blessing a same-sex union, Cardinal Radcliffe is questioned about a possible excommunication. The issue reveals the tension between *Fiducia Supplicans* and the canonical discipline of the Church.

The Fact

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe—preacher of the spiritual exercises for the 2023 Synod on Synodality and a leading figure of progressive Catholicism—has blessed a same-sex union. The question of a possible excommunication is now being publicly raised. It requires a precise examination. Fiducia Supplicans (DDF, December 2023) authorized blessings for people in irregular situations, explicitly stating that these blessings "do not constitute an approval of their way of life" and must not take "a ritual form that could mislead." The question, therefore, is: did Cardinal Radcliffe respect this strict limit, or did he cross it by blessing not individuals but a union as such?

Our Interpretation

The distinction Fiducia Supplicans attempts to maintain between blessing a person and blessing a union is theologically fragile once put into practice in a public ceremonial context. A cardinal—by definition a member of the pontifical college—who performs such a blessing sends a signal objectively contrary to the Church’s constant doctrine on marriage and sexual complementarity (CCC §§ 2357-2359, 1601-1605). Canonically, latae sententiae excommunication (can. 1364 CIC) applies to formally declared heresy, schism, or apostasy—not a pastoral error, even a serious one. However, automatic canonical impunity does not equate to moral approval or silence from authority. Rome has other tools—formal warnings, intervention by the DDF—to clarify its position.

For Reflection

"Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (Jn 1:17). A Church that sacrifices truth for compassion does not act in charity: it deprives those concerned of the light they need to discern their path. Rome must clearly name what these gestures signify—and what they cannot signify.