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The Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released on December 18 will not be implemented in Africa, Catholic Bishops have said.
“The freedom we must offer to people living in homosexual unions lies in the truth of the word of God,” Cardinal Robert Sarah wrote Jan. 6.
Church leaders in Africa, who have prohibited the implementation of Fiducia Supplicans (FS) in their Episcopal Sees and territories they govern.
The Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released on December 18 is “a pastoral document”, Bishop Ildo Augusto dos Santos Lopes Fortes of the Catholic Diocese of Mindelo in Cape Verde has said.
Catholic Bishops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have joined other Catholic Church leaders in Africa who have prohibited the implementation of Fiducia Supplicans (FS) in their Episcopal Sees and territories they govern.
Reactions have continued to pour in from Catholic Bishops in Africa on Fiducia Supplicans (FS), with many expressing their reservations about the Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released on Monday, December 18.
The Vatican’s doctrine office issued a response on Thursday to “clarify the reception of Fiducia Supplicans” amid widespread international backlash to the Vatican’s recent declaration on same-sex blessings.
More than two weeks after the Vatican issued a declaration on blessings of same-sex couples, bishops remain divided over the controversial document.
Members of the controversial German Synodal Way overwhelmingly approved developing formalized ritual texts for same-sex blessings in March 2023.
Catholic Bishops in Ivory Coast have expressed their concern about the possibility of blessing of “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations” as explained in Fiducia Supplicans, the December 18 Declaration of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF).
A prominent black Pentecostal leader is voicing his “solidarity” with African Catholics and urging Pope Francis to withdraw the new same-sex blessing guidelines.
In an interview published in a Spanish newspaper, Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández responded to criticism of the declaration.
Catholic Bishops in Cameroon have added their voice to other Catholic Church leaders, who have prohibited the implementation of Fiducia Supplicans in their Episcopal Sees and territories they govern.
Members of the Clergy in the territory covered by the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi in Kenya have been barred from implementing Fiducia Supplicans in the Metropolitan See, the Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”.
Catholic Bishops in Africa are consulting among themselves in view of issuing a “single synodal pronouncement” on Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”.
Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released on Monday, December 18, does not permit the blessing of “same-sex unions and activities”, Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have said.
Catholic Bishops in Burkina Faso and Niger have cautioned the people of God in their respective countries against “anxiety” amid controversies around Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released on Monday, December 18.
Some bishops, including Cardinal Gerhard Müller and several bishops in Africa, have firmly denounced the Vatican’s document.
Catholic Bishops in Kenya have defended Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican declaration on the possibility of blessing “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released on Monday, December 18.
Some bishops are welcoming the news, some are approaching it with caution, while others are outright refusing to implement it.