Synod on Synodality Wasn’t about “alternative lifestyles”: Catholic Bishop in CAR

In the report published on January 10, the Local Ordinary of Bossangoa Diocese, who doubles as the President of the Central African Episcopal Conference (CECA) recalls the sharing of concerns and the efforts towards addressing them.

Referring to the concerns from delegates representing the Church in Africa, the Central African member of the Society of African Missions (SMA) is quoted as saying, “Some of the concerns we shared in one way affect the people of God worldwide. This was also true of concerns we listened to from other regions.”

Pope Francis inaugurated the Synod on Synodality as a multi-year journey to be realized under the theme, “For a synodal Church: Communion, participation and mission.”

The first session of the Synod on Synodality took place from 4-29 October 2023, concluding with a 42-page summary report. A 52-page Final Document of the XVI Assembly followed the 2-27 October 2024 second session of the Synod on Synodality.

The Synod members approved the Final Document on 26 October 2024. On his part, Pope Francis approved its publication, choosing to directly implement it instead of the usual practice of issuing a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

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The Document that was approved by 355 Synod members in attendance outlines substantial proposals for Church renewal, including proposals to expand women’s leadership roles, greater lay participation in decision-making, and significant structural reforms such as a call to strengthen pastoral councils at Parish and Diocesan levels, and having regular ecclesiastical assemblies across all Church levels and heightening ecumenical dialogue.

Delegates at the 4-29 October 2023 session encouraged Catholic Bishops in Africa “to promote theological and pastoral discernment on the issue of polygamy”. The delegates also encouraged members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) to foster “the accompaniment of people in polygamous unions coming to faith.”

During that session, the President SECAM, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo, outlined “a four-phase plan” that he said Catholic Bishops in Africa have agreed upon to address the challenge of polygamy on the continent.

In his 2 October 2024 presentation in Rome, Cardinal Ambongo confirmed that Africa’s Catholic Bishops “currently working on a four-phase plan to address this issue” as agreed upon by members of the SECAM Standing Committee.

The first phase that has entailed constituting a working group of experts tasked with identifying “certain fundamental elements for an appropriate pastoral response” to the reality of polygamy in Africa is to conclude with a documentation that seeks to provide “comprehensive answers” to the question: “what is the most appropriate form of pastoral care to support people in polygamous relationships?”

The distribution of the documentation “to African Bishops’ Conferences to examine improvements and proposals of pastoral lines” is to constitute the second phase, Cardinal Ambongo said, adding that the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is to be asked to weigh in on the draft document. 

The Local Ordinary of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa said that in the third phase of the plan, Catholic Bishops in Africa “will have the task of examining, approving and adopting the contents of this document during the next Plenary Assembly of SECAM in July 2025.”

As a final phase, “the consensus document that will have been voted for and adopted by the Bishops will then be submitted to Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith for further theological and doctrinal orientation,” the Congolese member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) said during his 2 October 2024 presentation in Rome. 

“The Church in Africa, faithful to Catholic doctrine on marriage, is committed to finding the most suitable to accompany its brothers, its sons and daughters in polygamous marital situations,” the President of SECAM added.

He said that the “four-phase plan” will seek to embrace “the synodal method of consultation and collaboration”, working towards developing “a comprehensive pastoral response to polygamy.”

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In the report published on January 10, Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia recognized the role of SECAM in guiding the pastoral approach to persons in polygamous unions in Africa.

He goes on to reflect on his participation in the Synod on Synodality as a delegate, saying, “For the past two years, the universality of the Church has helped me to experience this one body of Christ’s Church in a completely new way.”

The Central African Catholic Church leader describes the Synod on Synodality as having been “a unique experience” where Cardinals, Bishops, the Clergy, women and men Religious, and Laity worked together to move the Church forward so that no one is left behind.

“Some of the directions towards peace from the Synod on Synodality will strengthen the Bishops Conference to continue to promote peace in their respective countries by encouraging those who propose war to sit together and talk,” Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia is quoted as saying in the report published on January 10.

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