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Blessing or non-blessing?

The Apostolic See, imploring trust and the blessing of persons in irregular situations

Authors

  • Dr Thomas Neumann University of Münster

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17879/zkr-2023-5435

Keywords:

Matrimonial Canon law, Consecration, Sacramentals, same-sex-marriage

Abstract

The declaration Fiducia supplicans of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of 18 December 2023 is a further development of how the Church deals with couples in "irregular" situations. Even if the Pope excludes a legal regulation of the blessing itself, a canonical categorisation is required in order to be able to assess the concrete legal and, in particular, liturgical consequences of the innovations. The article undertakes this categorisation in two steps, firstly by clarifying the concept of blessing in the narrow and broad sense, and by distancing the new blessing from the sacrament of marriage.

Author Biography

Dr Thomas Neumann, University of Münster

(born 1984), Dr. theol. Lic. Iur. can., studied history, catholic theology and information technology in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany). Studied canon law at the University of Muenster. Obtained his doctorate in Freiburg im Breisgau. At the moment he is Academic Council at the canon law institute Muenster. Moreover, he is course coordinator for the licentiate in canon law as well as academic advisor.

Research focuses: canon law history; liturgical law; concordat law and hierarchal structure of the church.

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Published

2024-05-07

Versions

Issue

Vol. 2 (2023)

Section

Comments on law

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Thomas Neumann

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.