Shevchuk said, according to an online translation of his statement from Ukrainian to English, “After consulting with relevant experts and competent institutions, I wish to inform you of the following:
“The above-mentioned Declaration interprets the pastoral meaning of blessings in the Latin Church, not in the Eastern Catholic Churches,” the archbishop said, referring to Fiducia Supplicans.
“It does not address questions of Catholic faith or morality, does not refer to any prescriptions of the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches, and does not mention Eastern Christians. Thus, on the basis of can. 1492 of the CCCC, this Declaration applies exclusively to the Latin Church and has no legal force for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,” he said.
The 23 Eastern Catholic Churches all share one Code of Canon Law, separate from that of the Latin 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 (CCCC, can. 39-41),” Shevchuk said.
He said that the meaning of the word “blessing” has a different meaning in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church than the Latin Church.