[OFFICIAL TRANSLATION]
Kyiv
Prot. BA 23/326 ENG
December 22, 2023, in the year of God
COMMUNIQUE
regarding the reception in the UGCC of
the declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “FIDUCIA SUPPLICANS”
on the pastoral significance of blessings
In response to numerous requests from bishops, clergy, monastics, ecclesiastical movements and individual lay people of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church regarding the Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Fiducia Supplicans (December 18, 2023) on the pastoral meaning of blessings, after consulting with relevant experts and competent institutions, I wish to inform you of the following:
- The Declaration aforementioned 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 morality, refer to any precepts of the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches (CCEO), or refer to Eastern Christians. Thus, on the basis of the can. 1492 of the CCEO, this Declaration applies solely to the Latin Church and has no legal force for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
- 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 cherish (CCEO, canons 39–41). The meaning of “blessing” in the UGCC and the Latin Church is different.
- According to the liturgical tradition 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 the liturgical rites and reduced to the circumstances and needs of private piety (UGCC Catechism Christ – Our Pascha, par. 505–509).
- According to the traditions of the Byzantine rite, the concept of “blessing” means approval, permission, or even an order for a specific type of action, prayer, and ascetic practices, including certain types of fasting and prayer. Certainly, the blessing of a priest always has an evangelizing and catechetical dimension and, therefore, can in no way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble, and fertile union of love between a man and a woman, which Our Lord Jesus Christ elevated to the dignity of the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony. Pastoral discernment urges us to avoid ambiguous gestures, statements, and concepts that would distort or misrepresent God’s word and the teachings of the Church.
The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
† SVIATOSLAV
Source: UGCC
CCEO, Canon 1492
Laws issued by the supreme authority of the Church, which do not expressly indicate the passive subject, affect the Christian faithful of the Eastern Churches only insofar as they concern matters of faith and morals or declarations of divine law, explicitly decide questions regarding these Christian faithful, or concern favours which contain nothing contrary to the Eastern rites.
(Canon Law Society of America, Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Latin-English Edition. New English Edition, 1990.)
CCEO, Canons 39-41
39. The rites of the Eastern Churches, as the patrimony of the whole Church of Christ in which shines forth the tradition coming down from the Apostles through that the Fathers, and which, in its variety, affirms the divine unity of the Catholic faith, are to be observed and promoted conscientiously.
40. §1. Hierarchs who preside over Churches sui iuris and all other hierarchs are to care with e greatest diligence for the faithful and accurate observance of their own rite; nor are they to allow changes to be made in it except by reason of its organic progress; they are nonetheless to keep in mind mutual goodwill and the unity of Christians.
§2. Other clerics and members of institutes of consecrated life are bound to observe faithfully their own rite and to acquire always a greater knowledge and a more complete practice of it.
§3. Also, other Christian faithful are to foster the knowledge and appreciation of their own rite and are bound to observe it everywhere unless an exception is provided by the law.
(Canon Law Society of America, Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Latin-English Edition. New English Edition, 1990.)
Christ – Our Pascha, 505-509
505 A blessing is an action of God for the good of human persons and their salvation. God blesses Adam and Eve so that they might grow and multiply (see Gn 1:28); and after the Flood he blesses Noah (see Gn 9:1). God blesses Abraham to become a blessing for all the nations of the earth (see Gn 12:2-3). This divine blessing is realized in Jesus Christ (see Gal 3:14-16). Through the liturgical act of blessing, the Church communicates the blessing of Christ to the whole world. When the priest blesses with his hand, he configures his fingers to form the letters IC XC, which is the Greek abbreviation for “Jesus Christ.” This means that through the priest it is the Lord who blesses, “because it is not the human being that blesses, but God who blesses by his hand and words.”[1]
506 The Church, as a caring Mother, embraces persons with prayers and blessings on the very first day that they come into the world. She then prays on the eighth day after birth, when they receive their name, and also blesses the mother and child with special prayers on the fortieth day. When children begin going to school the Church blesses their educational endeavours. If a couple does not have children, the Church blesses them for fertility with a blessing of the nuptial bed. Those striving on the path of sanctification in marriage[2] are blessed by the Church on the twenty-fifth and fiftieth anniversaries of their marriage. When people are sick, the Church prays at their bedside; and she accompanies the dying with “Prayers at the Soul’s Separation from the Body.”
507 When people suffer from drought, intemperate weather, or other natural calamities, the Church appeals to God for help in these trials. In that which concerns the procuring of “daily bread,” the Church blesses the circumstances and means of people’s labour: fields, buildings, and farms. Desiring that people might possess material means according to their needs, the Church blesses bread, wheat, wine, and oil during the Lytia service of Vespers. In the past, these gifts were distributed to the needy on the eve of Church feasts, so that they too might be able to participate in the celebration.
508 In blessing medicinal herbs on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Church blesses people for their health and for protection against infirmities. In blessing the first fruits of the new harvest, the Church blesses the consumption of God’s gifts derived from the earth. Likewise, in blessing bread, meat, butter, cheese, and eggs on Pascha (Easter), the Church blesses the consumption of the fruit of people’s labour.
509 On the feast of the Encounter of our Lord, the Church blesses candles to remind us of Christ, who is “light for revelation to the nations” (see Lk 2:32). On Palm Sunday she blesses branches to remind us to adorn ourselves with “the branches of virtues.” With these we greet Christ’s coming. The Church teaches the need to love God’s creation when she consecrates water at Theophany (Jordan), when she decorates homes with greenery at Pentecost, and adorns churches with the best creations of church art. All of this is done so that every person might understand that every moment of their lives is God’s blessing—a gift from God for the sanctification and salvation of this life.
[1] John Chrysostom, Homilies on 2 Corinthians, 2, 8: PG 61, 404.
[2] See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1642.
