{"id":404318,"date":"2025-11-25T20:06:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/404318\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T20:06:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:06:15","slug":"vatican-reaffirms-monogamous-marriage-as-african-bishops-raise-polygamy-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/404318\/","title":{"rendered":"Vatican reaffirms monogamous marriage as African bishops raise polygamy concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

VATICAN CITY (AP) \u2014 The Vatican<\/a> on Tuesday doubled down on the value of monogamous marriage between a man and woman, responding to concerns raised by African bishops about the practice of polygamy in their flocks.<\/p>\n

The document from the Vatican\u2019s doctrine office said the Catholic Church<\/a> had a well-documented position upholding the indissolubility of marriage as a lifelong union between spouses. But it said the church\u2019s position on the unique and exclusive nature of a monogamous marriage was less well known.<\/p>\n

In recent years at Vatican meetings of bishops and in visits by groups of bishops, African delegates have regularly complained that polygamy is widely practiced among their flocks and asked the Vatican for guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne Flesh: In Praise of Monogamy\u201d provides them with a doctrinal document tracing the way marriage has been treated in the Bible, poetry, Christian theology and philosophy and by various popes and church councils across history.<\/p>\n

The Vatican\u2019s doctrine chief and author, Argentine Cardinal V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, said the text wasn\u2019t so much a condemnation of polygamy and polyamorous relations in the West as it was a celebration of the virtues and benefits of monogamy.<\/p>\n

The message, he said, was all about upholding the dignity of the spouses and women in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who truly love know that the other person cannot be a means to an end, and that one\u2019s own void must be filled in other ways, never through dominating the spouse,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what happens in many forms of unhealthy desire that lead to manifestations of explicit or subtle violence, oppression, psychological pressure, control, suffocation, to which infidelity is often added.\u201d<\/p>\n

The document is 40 pages long with 256 footnotes and written only in Italian. In the introduction, Fern\u00e1ndez says it\u2019s enough to read the final chapter, on \u201cconjugal charity\u201d and the conclusion, to take away its essential message.<\/p>\n

Catholic doctrine holds that the sacrament of marriage is a lifelong, exclusive union between man and woman, open to new life. <\/p>\n

The final section of the new document deals with sexuality, procreation and sexual attraction between couples and recalls Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s previous writings on the topic. <\/p>\n

When the Argentine theologian was appointed by Pope Francis in 2023, he came under fire from conservatives who had unearthed an out-of-print book<\/a> of his, \u201cHeal Me with Your Mouth. The Art of Kissing.\u201d A year later, another out-of-print Fern\u00e1ndez title and similar in tone, \u201cThe Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality,\u201d caused a stir. <\/p>\n

The short expose about mystical-sensual experiences with God<\/a> delved into orgasms, including graphic descriptions of male and female sexual anatomy and his commentary about sexual desire, pornography, sexual satisfaction and domination, and the role of pleasure in God\u2019s mystical plan.<\/p>\n

Neither title was included in the list of publications the Vatican provided when Francis named Fern\u00e1ndez as prefect of the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and gave him marching orders to radically change the office\u2019s course.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez was the author of one of the most controversial documents of Francis\u2019 pontificate, the 2023 doctrinal statement allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples<\/a>. The statement prompted an unprecedented rebuke by African bishops, who in a unified statement refused to follow it.<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VATICAN CITY (AP) \u2014 The Vatican on Tuesday doubled down on the value of monogamous marriage between a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":404319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[20496,57,1165,18075,50,20211,365,22062,190992,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-404318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-catholic-church","9":"tag-general-news","10":"tag-lifestyle","11":"tag-marriage","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-pope-francis","14":"tag-religion","15":"tag-vatican-city","16":"tag-vctor-manuel-fernndez","17":"tag-world","18":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115612146205159998","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}