Cardinal - "Africa's position [on homosexual blessings] was also the position of many bishops here in Europe. It is not an African exception."

Cathcon:  The Rhine should never have been allowed to flow into the Tiber at the Council.  Now the modernist Germans want it to flow into the Nile. 

African Cardinal Describes Homosexuality as a Euopean Issue

"No African Exception"

In 2023, the Vatican permitted blessings for homosexuals. But this met with resistance, especially on the African continent. But this is not only the case in Africa, explained the high-ranking Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo.

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo has rejected the accusation that Africa's rejection of the blessing of same-sex couples is purely regionally motivated. "Africa's position was also the position of many bishops here in Europe. It is not an African exception," said the President of the African Bishops' Conferences on Monday in the Vatican.

Many Africans perceived the document as a measure imposed from outside. However, pastoral priorities in Africa are different: "Our pastoral priority is not the problem of homosexuality or homosexual people. For us, life is the focus: how to live – and how to survive," said the cardinal. Issues such as homosexuality are "for you here in Europe, not for us in Africa."

New advisory structures under Pope Leo

Ambongo is Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and President of the Pan-African Episcopal Council (SECAM). Following the publication of the Declaration Fiducia supplicans by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in December 2023, he traveled to Rome to convey the African bishops' rejection to Pope Francis. The declaration allows non-liturgical blessings of same-sex couples under certain conditions.

Until recently, Ambongo was a member of Pope Francis's "K9" advisory body. In this context, he also commented on possible advisory structures under Pope Leo. In the preparatory meetings for the conclave, many cardinals expressed the wish that the Pope listen more closely to the entire College of Cardinals – for example, through regular meetings. Whether there will be a small advisory group again "depends on him," said Ambongo.

Majority supports blessing for homosexuals, according to survey

According to a recent survey, a majority of Germans think it is a good idea that homosexual couples will also be able to be blessed by a priest in the Catholic Church in the future.

According to a YouGov survey published on Wednesday, 60 percent support the Vatican's latest decision. 20 percent reject it, and 19 percent express no opinion.

Source

Cathcon: The truth of Catholic Faith or morals does not depend on secular votes in a particular age or place.