The Remnant’s statement to Leo XIV quotes Francis fairly, but not Benedict

Benedict XVI gave the 14 February 2013 address at a “Meeting with the parish priests and the clergy of Rome” in the Paul VI Audience Hall, not to the Roman Curia (vatican.va). He spoke about his memories of the Council.

The Holy See’s English text reads: “the real Council had difficulty establishing itself and taking shape; the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real force of the Council was present and, slowly but surely, established itself more and more”. He went on: “50 years after the Council, we see that this virtual Council is broken, is lost, and there now appears the true Council with all its spiritual force.” The statement’s quotation ends with “the real Council failed to materialize”, which is not in the official text, and leaves out the sentences that follow.

At the interreligious meeting with young people at Catholic Junior College, Singapore, on 13 September 2024, Francis said, in the Holy See’s English transcript: “All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the divine.” And: “There is only one God, and religions are like languages, paths to reach God. Some Sikh, some Muslim, some Hindu, some Christian.” The statement’s wording differs slightly; the substance is reported correctly.

In March 2021 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith answered that “it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage … as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex”, citing Catechism n. 2357. It added that God “does not and cannot bless sin” (Holy See Press Office).

Fiducia supplicans (18 December 2023) itself says that “it is only in this context”, marriage between a man and a woman, “that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning. The Church’s doctrine on this point remains firm.” It recalls the 2021 Responsum and presents the blessings it allows as given “without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” The Catechism text quoted by the statement is unchanged.