CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) released a statement Wednesday that there is “no possibility in the Church of blessing same-sex unions and activities.”
The statement from the Nigerian bishops is one of four such statements from African bishops’ conferences since the Vatican released Fiducia Supplicans, a declaration that opened the possibility of priests blessing same-sex couples and those in “irregular situations.”
The Catholic bishops’ conferences of Malawi, Ghana, and Zambia have all issued similar statements.
Given “the various nuances of interpretation that [Fiducia Supplicans] has already been given,” the CBCN wrote in their December 20 statement, “we recognize our duty as Pastors to clarify the content of the document.”
“The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria assures the entire People of God that the teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage remains the same,” the statement read:
There is, therefore, no possibility in the Church of blessing same-sex unions and activities. That would go against God’s law, the teachings of the Church, the laws of our nation and the cultural sensibilities of our people.
The CBCN noted that Fiducia Supplicans
acknowledges and carefully distinguishes between ritual, liturgical, and informal blessings. While ritual or liturgical blessings are imparted according to the established norms of the Church, informal blessings refer to prayers over people who ask for them outside the liturgy or any formal celebration in the Church.
The Declaration offers a consideration of the possibility of extending the informal blessing to all God’s children, irrespective of their moral condition, when they ask to be blessed.
Nevertheless, the Declaration insists that the blessing of persons in irregular unions–and never the union itself–can only take a non-liturgical form to avoid confusion. It should not be imparted during or in connection with a civil wedding ceremony or with clothing, words, and signs associated with a wedding.
The CBCN also highlighted the declaration’s reiteration of the Church’s “teaching on marriage as an ‘an exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children.’” The bishops “emphatically” added “that the Church does not have the power to impart a blessing on irregular unions.”
“The Declaration also reinforces the truth about God’s mercy,” the bishops continued:
For one to willingly ask for a blessing demonstrates one’s trust in God and the desire to live according to God’s commandments. Asking for God’s blessing is not dependent on how good one is. Imperfection is the reason for seeking God’s grace.
Therefore, those in irregular unions are invited never to lose hope but rather to ask for God’s grace and mercy while remaining open to conversion.
“The CBCN thanks all the Priests for their accompaniment of married couples, asking them to continue in all they do to sustain the sacrament of holy matrimony and never to do anything that would detract from the sacredness of this sacrament,” the Nigerian bishops’ statement concluded.
