Cardinal Ambongo: Opposition to blessings to same -sex couples is no African exception

The leader of the Catholic bishops of Africa rejected on Tuesday the narrative that only Africans opposed the 2023 Vatican Declaration that allowed blessings to same -sex couples.

“The position adopted by Africa (about the statement) was also the position of many bishops here in Europe. It is not just an African exception,” said Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, ofm Cap, to Ewtn News on July 1.

The 65 -year -old Cardinal added that homosexuality is fundamentally a “doctrinal, theological problem”, and that the moral teaching of the Church on the subject has not changed.

Ambongo is Archbishop of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and heads the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

After the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) of the Vatican published Confidence in supplicating On December 18, 2023, Ambongo flew to Rome, where he met with Pope Francis to convey the reactions of consternation of the bishops of Africa before the statement, which allowed non -liturgical blessings to same -sex couples.

According to Ambongo, he worked with the DDF Prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and with Pope Francis to produce a statement in which it was stated that permission to bless same -sex couples did not apply in Africa. The declaration of the SECAM of January 11, 2024 cited the biblical prohibitions of homosexual acts and described same -sex unions as “intrinsically corrupt.”

On January 4, 2024, the DDF issued a Press note Recognizing that pastoral contexts in different countries may require a slower reception of the declaration.

Later, in January 2024, Pope Francis defended the statement and described the Church in Africa as “a separate case.” In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Francisco said: “For (the Africans), homosexuality is something ‘ugly’ from the cultural point of view; they do not tolerate it.”

Ambongo, who spoke with Ewtn News after a Vatican press conference to present a document on climatic justice and ecological conversion, said Africa, “he perceived (Confidence in supplicating) as something that was imposed from outside a town that has other priorities. ”

“The pastoral priority for us is not a problem of homosexual people, it is not a problem of homosexuality. For us, pastoral priority is life: how to live, how to survive,” he added. Topics such as homosexuality “are for you here in Europe, not for us in Africa.”

The Cardinal, who was a member of the Council of Pope Francis advisor – sometimes called the “C9” because during most of his history it was composed of nine cardinals – said he does not know if Pope Leo XIV will form a similar group to advise the Pope.

Ambongo said that during meetings prior to conclave, the cardinals expressed the desire that the Pope will value the opinion of the entire Cardinals College, even celebrating annual meetings. “But this little group that could also help the Pope, that depends on him,” he said.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.