Louise Sallé / Photo credits: HANDOUT / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP 09:32 a.m., December 28, 2023

Is the Church threatened with splitting? In an official statement on December 18, the Vatican made it possible to bless couples "in an irregular situation, and of the same sex." The text provoked a wave of criticism around the world and created the beginning of a revolt, especially among African bishops.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the bishops' conference is firm: "We say 'NO' to any form of blessing for same-sex couples." The same is true of the Cameroonian bishops, for whom "homosexuality opposes humanity to itself and destroys it." Protests are similar in Zambia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Ghana.

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A vote in mid-January

"We are in different cultures and we should not think that the West has a monopoly on common sense. The blessings of same-sex couples do not present themselves with the same urgency in Africa. It can present itself in some European countries," says Gilles Routhier, a professor of theology at the University of Laval in Canada.

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Refractory bishops can still change their minds. The Vatican has launched a consultation with representatives of the Church in Africa. They are expected to vote with one voice on the matter by mid-January.

"The first positions are not the final positions"

"There will probably be bishops who will refuse that. This is nothing new. But like the decision, that is, the Roman and recent document, the primary positions are not the definitive positions," the theology professor said.

Moreover, the pope's authorization to bless homosexual couples is not obligatory, which may well give rise to different interpretations. It is this work of clarification that begins for Pope Francis.