Vatican ‘Surrenders’ Over Blessing Gay Couples

News Analysis Just weeks after issuing a controversial document dealing with the topic of blessing homosexual couples—”Fiducia Supplicans”—on Dec. 18, 2023, the Vatican has effectively surrendered in the face of mounting worldwide opposition. It has approved a document issued by the Symposium of Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) declaring such blessings will not be given anywhere on the continent. The African bishops’ document—titled “No Blessings for Homosexual Couples in the African Churches: Synthesis of the Responses from the African Episcopal Conferences to the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans”—was issued on Jan. 11, 2024, and begins by noting that the Vatican declaration has “caused a shockwave,” “sown misconceptions and unrest in the minds of many lay faithful consecrated persons [members of religious order] and even pastors” and “aroused strong reactions.”...