In the greatest rebuke yet to Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar issued a unified statement Thursday refusing to follow his declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples and asserting that such unions are “contrary to the will of God.”
The statement, signed by Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo on behalf of the symposium of African national bishops conferences, marked the closest thing to a continent-wide dissent from the declaration Francis approved Dec. 18 allowing priests to offer such blessings.
That declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has sent shock waves through the Catholic Church, thrilling LGBTQ+ Catholics as a concrete sign of Francis’ message of welcome but alarming conservatives who fear core doctrines of the church are being ignored or violated.
The Catholic Church thought they could pour their brand of religion into the entire continent for hundreds of years, gaining loyal support and broadening their power. Looks like they just found out they exported the bigotry, but couldn’t force loyalty when they change the message.
This is the danger we keep seeing when people use a religion as a power vehicle, and wrap it in “fear of the other”. Doesn’t matter if it’s Catholicism or something else. We’ll continue to repeat history over and over because clearly it’ll work THIS time and that leader will be able to control it.