Growing Opposition Within Catholic Church Over Softer Approach to Same-Sex Relationships

Two weeks after releasing its ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ the Vatican finds itself on the defensive.

Pope Francis leads the Easter Sunday mass on April 9, 2023, at St. Peter's square in The Vatican, as part of celebrations of the Holy Week. Andreas Solaro/AFP

Two busy weeks after issuing its document on blessings for those in homosexual relationships—“Fiducia Supplicans”—the Vatican is on the defensive as opposition from national bishops’ conferences, prominent members of the Catholic hierarchy, religious orders and associations of priests has continued mounting.

Released on Dec. 18, 2023, “Fiducia Supplicans” exemplifies Pope Francis’s approach to doctrines that Catholic theology considers infallible (unable to be changed even by a pope or council of all bishops) but with which he is uncomfortable—in this case the doctrine that homosexual acts are serious sins.