AN OPEN LETTER FROM A POLISH PRIEST TO POLISH BISHOPS
Defenders of blessing same-sex couples sometimes separate their persistence in sin from other aspects of their relationship. They argue that everything positive in a sinful relationship should be blessed, despite its sinfulness. This is obvious relativism. It is also unacceptable to compare the sin against nature with couples in an irregular situation. Until now, the Church has accompanied cohabitations and civil unions in the hope that they may become sacramental marriages after the obstacles have ceased. Moreover, non-sacramental unions fulfill the parental vocation according to human nature and are families. This cannot be said in any way about same-sex couples” writes Father Beniamin Sęktas in an Open Letter to the bishops. The priest appeals for Polish shepherds, like other episcopates, to reject the Fiducia supplicans declaration and engage in an internal church dispute with its theses, defending the revealed truth of God and the honor of the Polish cassock.
A full version of the letter has appeared online:
May 23, 2024
On the Feast of Jesus Christ the High and Eternal Priest
AN OPEN LETTER FROM A POLISH PRIEST TO POLISH BISHOPS
Most Reverend Bishops,
I, a Polish priest, wish to express my disappointment with the Bishops’ stance on the Fiducia supplicans Declaration issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on December 18, 2023. I write these words in May, the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, addressing St. Elizabeth, calls herself blessed by all generations (Luke 1:48). I recall the painful days when in our homeland Her image was desecrated by people who demanded the state’s, nation’s, and perhaps even the Church’s approval for breaking God’s commandments. At that time, when our faith was being offended, there were those who justified painting the colors of the LGBT ideology on Her image as a right to religious expression. Anyone who loves God was not deceived by the perverse argumentation that does not allow for the right to defend the honor of the persons of the Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother.
While the insincerity of those whose consciences are silenced by remaining in sin is understandable, it is incomprehensible among those who are to shape others in the spirit of the Gospel. The insincerity of the Pastors of the Polish Church became evident on December 21, 2023, when, through the mouth of the spokesman for the Permanent Council of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Fr. Leszek Gęsiak, it was assured that the Fiducia supplicans Declaration is identical in content to the Explanatory Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of February 22, 2021, regarding the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex, even though the Note reads: “The answer to the submitted doubt does not exclude the blessing of individual persons with homosexual inclinations who manifest the desire to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as taught by the Church, but recognizes as illicit any form of blessing that would tend to acknowledge their unions.” Unfortunately, the truth is different. The Fiducia supplicans Declaration allows the blessing of couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples. It states this in point 39: “To avoid any form of confusion or scandal, when a couple in an irregular situation, despite expressing a request for a blessing outside the ceremonies provided for by the liturgical books, asks for a blessing, this will never be given in the context of civil ceremonies of union or even in connection with them. And not in the clothes, gestures, and words proper to marriage. The same applies when a same-sex couple asks for a blessing.” Thus, the mentioned point also refers to couples formally recognized by secular institutions, not to individual persons undertaking the path of conversion.
In the insincerity of the Permanent Council, one can see a strategy aimed at lulling the vigilance of Polish Catholics. In an interview for the “Come Faithful” channel, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś also argued that the Fiducia supplicans Declaration does not allow the blessing of same-sex couples, claiming that he read it four times. The Cardinal maintained that the blessing referred to in the Declaration concerns individuals, not couples, and dismissed the question of whether two people can ask for it with the peremptory statement that he is only quoting what is in the document.
In addition to the convoluted distinction between a couple and individuals, the distinction in the blessings that, according to the content of the Declaration, irregular couples and homosexuals can ask for, is equally bizarre. It consists of distinguishing between liturgical and non-liturgical blessings. The Declaration reduces the liturgical nature of a blessing to the use of vestments and books when giving it, as Cardinal Ryś also mentions in the interview. Not long ago, he apologized to all those who felt scandalized by the form of the Eucharistic celebration at the “Youth Arena” meeting. Despite breaking liturgical regulations, this celebration was a valid Mass. Similarly, one can say that distinguishing between liturgical and non-liturgical blessings is like claiming that a Mass at the Łódź stadium would be non-liturgical due to non-compliance with the rubrics. A blessing given by a priest, although not a sacrament, is a liturgical gesture. Asking for a blessing from a priest is always a request addressed to someone who serves in the Church. He is not just a fellow believer who is to pray for another. Besides, the intention of intercessory prayer should always align with God’s will, not oppose it by asking for support in living together in sin. A Christian blessing involves invoking the name of the Lord, the Holy Trinity, and the sign of the cross. Blessing same-sex couples for being such, thus sinful, violates the second commandment of God and mocks the Creator and Redeemer. It is also significant that the Declaration encourages such blessings to be given in shrines and during pilgrimages, as mentioned in point 28. It calls for sacrilege in places dedicated to God.
The practice proposed by the Dicastery, by postulating a spontaneous nature, can deepen spiritual pathologies related to perceiving religion in a magical way as a method of subordinating God. The author of the Declaration, to safeguard against this charge, included a reflection on occasional and folk blessings. They are mentioned in points 28 and 30. If we refer the respect and desire for someone to mature to a better life to the real situation in which irregular couples and homosexuals find themselves, facing eternal damnation, we will then realize the wickedness of pastoral prudence mentioned in point 30.
Defenders of blessing same-sex couples sometimes separate their persistence in sin from other aspects of their relationship. They argue that everything positive in a sinful relationship should be blessed, despite its sinfulness. This is obvious relativism. It is also unacceptable to compare the sin against nature with couples in an irregular situation. Until now, the Church has accompanied cohabitations and civil unions in the hope that they may become sacramental marriages after the obstacles have ceased. Moreover, non-sacramental unions fulfill the parental vocation according to human nature and are families. This cannot be said in any way about same-sex couples. The proposed practice of blessing homosexuals contradicts the teachings of Saint John Paul II. The Polish Pope pointed out the lack of deep interpersonal bond in homosexual couples, where mutual completion of persons on a psychological level is not possible (Address to the employees and advocates of the Roman Rota on the Christian vision of marriage and marital love, January 21, 1999, no. 5). Blessing same-sex couples by the Church denies healthy anthropology. Since, according to the content of the Fiducia supplicans Declaration, same-sex couples can and should be blessed by virtue of being homosexual couples, not because of what is true, good, and humanly important in the life and relationships of people acknowledging their unworthiness and need for God’s help, point 31 contains a contradiction in itself, making it impossible to give such a blessing.
In addition to the relativization of concepts in the document’s content, there is a conflict with what the Church believes. Blessing in the Old Testament referred to the begetting of offspring and inheritance (Gen 27, 1-45). The New Testament calls the heirs of the Kingdom of God blessed (Matt 5, 3-11). Saint Paul in his teaching explicitly and emphatically describes the perpetrators of homosexual acts as those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 6, 9-11). The third chapter of the Fiducia supplicans Declaration contradicts Divine Revelation. Prayer offered while blessing a homosexual couple is not in line with the faith. Remaining in a state of mortal sin until death causes eternal damnation. Therefore, one cannot bless a couple remaining in sin for merely remaining in sin. The postulate of blessing homosexuals as cohabiting breaks the necessary bond that unites the truths of faith, prayer, and the life of the Church. The Fiducia supplicans Declaration contains such controversial teaching that it questions the unity of believers who reject its content with those who accept and proclaim it. The Declaration makes the Church a community of many beliefs and practices that contradict each other. Such a state of the Church does not allow for the realization of the unity for which our Savior prayed (John 17, 20-24). Equally outrageous is the trend in theological and magisterial reflection that equates the dignity of an unborn child with discriminated homosexuals. Elements of this tendency can be seen in the recently issued declaration Dignitas infinita. Such an approach leads to the dictatorship of subjectivism in faith and morality. Equating everything at the cost of making nothing important is absurd and contrary to the good of souls. Therefore, the Fiducia supplicans Declaration and any false justifications for it cannot be accepted by the faithful as binding in conscience.
The Polish Church has a rich heritage of discernment. Thanks to the participation of Poles at the Council of Constance, the wickedness of the Teutonic Order was condemned. Father Paweł Włodkowic defended the rights of all nations, including pagan ones, to self-governance and living in peace on their own lands. The Polish spirit, despite its weaknesses, can recognize pseudo-Christianity that replaces the cross of Christ with a sword or anything else in the name of hidden interests and pleasing the world. In history, man often succumbed to the temptation to bless sins, wickedness, and crimes. And this is what we are dealing with in Fiducia supplicans. Blessing homosexual couples seems to be a form of new Teutonism, which, like in the past, supported by the blessing of church authority, committed violence against pagans, today is to assist in living contrary to God’s plan.
When I learned about the issuance of the Declaration, I was terrified. I immediately translated the text using a translator to check for myself what was really written there. After reading it, something seemed to break inside me. I had several conversations with other priests, whose surprise mixed with sadness, indignation, and mockery of the spirit and content of this document. I also discussed my doubts with the Bishop of Drohiczyn. This meeting did not dispel them, but on the contrary, I discovered that this topic is not important to him. When I was a seminarian, I had the opportunity to see two priestly cassocks: the cassock of Saint John Paul II stained with blood after the assassination on display in Krakow and the martyr’s cassock of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in Warsaw. I was always moved, contemplating the words of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, who, standing up to martyrdom, introduced himself with the words “I am a Polish priest.” Just as I and the Bishops are spiritual descendants of priests who, starting from Saint Stanislaus, testified that one must obey God rather than men (Acts 5, 27).
The Blessed Mother, who accompanies your deliberations in the Jasna Góra Image, wishes to see you as beloved disciples of her Son, who will stand up in defense of the Creator’s work, marriage and family, and Christ’s Bride. Therefore, I appeal to you to reject the Fiducia supplicans Declaration as other episcopates have and to engage in an internal church dispute with its theses, defending the revealed truth of God and the honor of the Polish cassock.
Fr. Beniamin Sęktas
A full version of the letter has appeared online:
May 23, 2024
On the Feast of Jesus Christ the High and Eternal Priest
AN OPEN LETTER FROM A POLISH PRIEST TO POLISH BISHOPS
Most Reverend Bishops,
I, a Polish priest, wish to express my disappointment with the Bishops’ stance on the Fiducia supplicans Declaration issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on December 18, 2023. I write these words in May, the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, addressing St. Elizabeth, calls herself blessed by all generations (Luke 1:48). I recall the painful days when in our homeland Her image was desecrated by people who demanded the state’s, nation’s, and perhaps even the Church’s approval for breaking God’s commandments. At that time, when our faith was being offended, there were those who justified painting the colors of the LGBT ideology on Her image as a right to religious expression. Anyone who loves God was not deceived by the perverse argumentation that does not allow for the right to defend the honor of the persons of the Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother.
While the insincerity of those whose consciences are silenced by remaining in sin is understandable, it is incomprehensible among those who are to shape others in the spirit of the Gospel. The insincerity of the Pastors of the Polish Church became evident on December 21, 2023, when, through the mouth of the spokesman for the Permanent Council of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Fr. Leszek Gęsiak, it was assured that the Fiducia supplicans Declaration is identical in content to the Explanatory Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of February 22, 2021, regarding the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex, even though the Note reads: “The answer to the submitted doubt does not exclude the blessing of individual persons with homosexual inclinations who manifest the desire to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as taught by the Church, but recognizes as illicit any form of blessing that would tend to acknowledge their unions.” Unfortunately, the truth is different. The Fiducia supplicans Declaration allows the blessing of couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples. It states this in point 39: “To avoid any form of confusion or scandal, when a couple in an irregular situation, despite expressing a request for a blessing outside the ceremonies provided for by the liturgical books, asks for a blessing, this will never be given in the context of civil ceremonies of union or even in connection with them. And not in the clothes, gestures, and words proper to marriage. The same applies when a same-sex couple asks for a blessing.” Thus, the mentioned point also refers to couples formally recognized by secular institutions, not to individual persons undertaking the path of conversion.
In the insincerity of the Permanent Council, one can see a strategy aimed at lulling the vigilance of Polish Catholics. In an interview for the “Come Faithful” channel, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś also argued that the Fiducia supplicans Declaration does not allow the blessing of same-sex couples, claiming that he read it four times. The Cardinal maintained that the blessing referred to in the Declaration concerns individuals, not couples, and dismissed the question of whether two people can ask for it with the peremptory statement that he is only quoting what is in the document.
In addition to the convoluted distinction between a couple and individuals, the distinction in the blessings that, according to the content of the Declaration, irregular couples and homosexuals can ask for, is equally bizarre. It consists of distinguishing between liturgical and non-liturgical blessings. The Declaration reduces the liturgical nature of a blessing to the use of vestments and books when giving it, as Cardinal Ryś also mentions in the interview. Not long ago, he apologized to all those who felt scandalized by the form of the Eucharistic celebration at the “Youth Arena” meeting. Despite breaking liturgical regulations, this celebration was a valid Mass. Similarly, one can say that distinguishing between liturgical and non-liturgical blessings is like claiming that a Mass at the Łódź stadium would be non-liturgical due to non-compliance with the rubrics. A blessing given by a priest, although not a sacrament, is a liturgical gesture. Asking for a blessing from a priest is always a request addressed to someone who serves in the Church. He is not just a fellow believer who is to pray for another. Besides, the intention of intercessory prayer should always align with God’s will, not oppose it by asking for support in living together in sin. A Christian blessing involves invoking the name of the Lord, the Holy Trinity, and the sign of the cross. Blessing same-sex couples for being such, thus sinful, violates the second commandment of God and mocks the Creator and Redeemer. It is also significant that the Declaration encourages such blessings to be given in shrines and during pilgrimages, as mentioned in point 28. It calls for sacrilege in places dedicated to God.
The practice proposed by the Dicastery, by postulating a spontaneous nature, can deepen spiritual pathologies related to perceiving religion in a magical way as a method of subordinating God. The author of the Declaration, to safeguard against this charge, included a reflection on occasional and folk blessings. They are mentioned in points 28 and 30. If we refer the respect and desire for someone to mature to a better life to the real situation in which irregular couples and homosexuals find themselves, facing eternal damnation, we will then realize the wickedness of pastoral prudence mentioned in point 30.
Defenders of blessing same-sex couples sometimes separate their persistence in sin from other aspects of their relationship. They argue that everything positive in a sinful relationship should be blessed, despite its sinfulness. This is obvious relativism. It is also unacceptable to compare the sin against nature with couples in an irregular situation. Until now, the Church has accompanied cohabitations and civil unions in the hope that they may become sacramental marriages after the obstacles have ceased. Moreover, non-sacramental unions fulfill the parental vocation according to human nature and are families. This cannot be said in any way about same-sex couples. The proposed practice of blessing homosexuals contradicts the teachings of Saint John Paul II. The Polish Pope pointed out the lack of deep interpersonal bond in homosexual couples, where mutual completion of persons on a psychological level is not possible (Address to the employees and advocates of the Roman Rota on the Christian vision of marriage and marital love, January 21, 1999, no. 5). Blessing same-sex couples by the Church denies healthy anthropology. Since, according to the content of the Fiducia supplicans Declaration, same-sex couples can and should be blessed by virtue of being homosexual couples, not because of what is true, good, and humanly important in the life and relationships of people acknowledging their unworthiness and need for God’s help, point 31 contains a contradiction in itself, making it impossible to give such a blessing.
In addition to the relativization of concepts in the document’s content, there is a conflict with what the Church believes. Blessing in the Old Testament referred to the begetting of offspring and inheritance (Gen 27, 1-45). The New Testament calls the heirs of the Kingdom of God blessed (Matt 5, 3-11). Saint Paul in his teaching explicitly and emphatically describes the perpetrators of homosexual acts as those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 6, 9-11). The third chapter of the Fiducia supplicans Declaration contradicts Divine Revelation. Prayer offered while blessing a homosexual couple is not in line with the faith. Remaining in a state of mortal sin until death causes eternal damnation. Therefore, one cannot bless a couple remaining in sin for merely remaining in sin. The postulate of blessing homosexuals as cohabiting breaks the necessary bond that unites the truths of faith, prayer, and the life of the Church. The Fiducia supplicans Declaration contains such controversial teaching that it questions the unity of believers who reject its content with those who accept and proclaim it. The Declaration makes the Church a community of many beliefs and practices that contradict each other. Such a state of the Church does not allow for the realization of the unity for which our Savior prayed (John 17, 20-24). Equally outrageous is the trend in theological and magisterial reflection that equates the dignity of an unborn child with discriminated homosexuals. Elements of this tendency can be seen in the recently issued declaration Dignitas infinita. Such an approach leads to the dictatorship of subjectivism in faith and morality. Equating everything at the cost of making nothing important is absurd and contrary to the good of souls. Therefore, the Fiducia supplicans Declaration and any false justifications for it cannot be accepted by the faithful as binding in conscience.
The Polish Church has a rich heritage of discernment. Thanks to the participation of Poles at the Council of Constance, the wickedness of the Teutonic Order was condemned. Father Paweł Włodkowic defended the rights of all nations, including pagan ones, to self-governance and living in peace on their own lands. The Polish spirit, despite its weaknesses, can recognize pseudo-Christianity that replaces the cross of Christ with a sword or anything else in the name of hidden interests and pleasing the world. In history, man often succumbed to the temptation to bless sins, wickedness, and crimes. And this is what we are dealing with in Fiducia supplicans. Blessing homosexual couples seems to be a form of new Teutonism, which, like in the past, supported by the blessing of church authority, committed violence against pagans, today is to assist in living contrary to God’s plan.
When I learned about the issuance of the Declaration, I was terrified. I immediately translated the text using a translator to check for myself what was really written there. After reading it, something seemed to break inside me. I had several conversations with other priests, whose surprise mixed with sadness, indignation, and mockery of the spirit and content of this document. I also discussed my doubts with the Bishop of Drohiczyn. This meeting did not dispel them, but on the contrary, I discovered that this topic is not important to him. When I was a seminarian, I had the opportunity to see two priestly cassocks: the cassock of Saint John Paul II stained with blood after the assassination on display in Krakow and the martyr’s cassock of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in Warsaw. I was always moved, contemplating the words of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, who, standing up to martyrdom, introduced himself with the words “I am a Polish priest.” Just as I and the Bishops are spiritual descendants of priests who, starting from Saint Stanislaus, testified that one must obey God rather than men (Acts 5, 27).
The Blessed Mother, who accompanies your deliberations in the Jasna Góra Image, wishes to see you as beloved disciples of her Son, who will stand up in defense of the Creator’s work, marriage and family, and Christ’s Bride. Therefore, I appeal to you to reject the Fiducia supplicans Declaration as other episcopates have and to engage in an internal church dispute with its theses, defending the revealed truth of God and the honor of the Polish cassock.
Fr. Beniamin Sęktas