Pope Francis has legally approved allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, a drastic move in doctrine intended to make the church more welcoming while retaining its stringent prohibition on gay marriage.
While the Vatican announcement was hailed by some as a step toward ending discrimination in the Catholic Church, several Nigerians were skeptical.
The Catholic Bishops’ Association in Nigeria, where same-sex marriage has been illegal for a decade, said the pope’s pronouncement did not violate the church’s teachings on marriage as a “exclusive union” of a man and a woman.
The pope’s message has caused consternation among African Catholics, particularly in Nigeria, where many inside the Catholic Church believe abortion is wicked while a few others are more liberal.
A few Lagos citizens reacted angrily to the Pope’s message on the streets. “God did not make a mistake when he created Adam and Eve,” Esezobor Divine-Favour adds. “He felt it was imperfect, or if he wanted the world to go in this certain direction that the Pope wants it to go in, he would have told Noah to choose two animals into the ark, but instead he said two, meaning different sex.”
The primary goal of creation was procreation, or multiplying. How would that work if we did same-sex marriage?” According to the Relations Officer.
Following the news, human rights lawyer Liborous Oshoma stated that the pope’s statement ‘does not change the law in Nigeria.’ “The law in Nigeria today is that marriage is between a man and a woman, whether it is conducted or contracted in church or in a registry.” Liborous elaborated.
The Vatican declared in 2021 that the Catholic Church would not sanction gay marriages because God “cannot bless sin.”
The Vatican believes that while LGBT persons must be treated with dignity and respect, sexual relationships between members of the same sex are “intrinsically disordered.”
According to Catholic teaching, marriage is a lifelong partnership between a man and a woman that is part of God’s design and is intended to create new life.