By Paschal Norbert
NAIROBI, APRIL 30, 2024 (CISA) – In line with the directive from the First Session of Synod on Synodality in 2023, the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) has constituted a commission to deal with the issue of polygamy in the African Church.
This new development follows the Synod directive in 2023 that charged the African continental body of bishops to “promote theological and pastoral discernment” on the matter, as well as pastoral care for people who are in polygamous unions and are drawn to the Catholic faith.
In an interview on April 25 on the sidelines of the African Delegation Seminar on Synodality, a preparatory seminar for the second session of the Synod on Synodality for the African delegates in Nairobi, Fr Rafael Simbine Junior, the Secretary General of SECAM said that commission has already started its work and will present their findings to the bishops in July 2024 at the SECAM plenary, which will take place in Rwanda.
“If the bishops there agree with the results, we will send the results to the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith. Then we will start a new conversation between the dicastery and our team to reach a conscience and final decision on the matter,” he said.
The issue of polygamy has always been a challenge to the Catholic Church in Africa. In Africa, monogamy is the common practice of marriage though polygamy is also widely practiced by many communities and in some countries like Kenya it is legalized as a form of marriage. The Church, however, has always considered polygamy as an evil offence and any desire to examine the issue has been seen as an influence of the devil.
The push by African bishops for theological reflection on the issue of polygamy has always been centred on the following questions: What should the Church do when she encounters situations of polygamy? This particular question is related to the admission of the sacraments since, until now, the Church considers polygamy incompatible with Christian values with the Catechism of the Catholic Church defining polygamy as contrary to the moral law.
There are also problems concerning the theology of marriage and justice in the Church and pastoral challenges concerning priests when they are confronted with the faith of some of the faithful who are in polygamous unions.
