‘Polygamy, Polyamory Based On Illusion That…’: Vatican’s Warning Over Modern Relationship Trends | World News

Pope Leo XIV holds an audience for the Jubilee of Choirs in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE)

The Vatican warned societies in the West over the rise of polyamory and pushing the narrative that marriage between a man and a woman is a stable, lifelong and exclusive partnership.

Pope Leo XIV signed off a new document defending monogamy titled One Flesh – In Praise of Monogamy which outlined the the importance of marriage between man and a woman.

“Various public forms of non-monogamous unions – sometimes called ‘polyamory’ – are growing in the West. Polygamy, adultery, or polyamory are based on the illusion that the intensity of the relationship can be found in a succession of faces,” the text said.

The text reflected on the rise of modern relationships in the West and also polygamy in Africa, which the Vatican described as a “pastoral challenge” for the church in the region.

“Our age, in fact, is experiencing various drifts with regard to love: an increase in divorces, the fragility of unions, the trivialization of adultery, and the promotion of polyamory,” the text further added.

Polygamy refers to being married to more than one person at the same time, usually in cultures where multiple spouses are allowed. Polyamory, on the other hand, is about having more than one romantic relationship at once with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.

The 40-page Vatican document strongly reiterates that marriage, in the Church’s view, is a union only between a man and a woman. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, who heads the Vatican’s doctrine office, said the text aims to clearly explain why the Church insists on a “unique and exclusive union of love” — a bond built on complete commitment and belonging between two partners.

The note also underlines a shift in how the Church frames sex within marriage, stressing that it is about more than just having children.

Traditionally, Catholic teaching says sex in marriage has two purposes — the unitive, which deepens intimacy and reflects divine love, and the procreative, which concerns having children. The Church continues to oppose artificial contraception, a stance upheld by recent popes even though it remains heavily debated and widely rejected in parts of the global Catholic community.

In its latest doctrinal note, the Vatican says “unity is the founding property” of marriage and that the “unitive purpose of sexuality… is not limited to ensuring procreation.”