A new document released by the Vatican asserts the Catholic Church’s stance against polygamy, a situation often affecting African dioceses. Source: Crux.
Although the Church has long opposed polygamy, bishops in societies where the practice of having multiple wives still occurs must often deal with the consequences.
That’s why the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops on Tuesday published the Final Report from the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) Commission on “the pastoral challenge of polygamy.”
Often, people in polygamous relationships seek to become Catholic, but practical issues have to be settled – including the fact multiple wives still need to be cared for, there are often many children involved, and the financial problems can be complex.
Although not directly addressed, the issue also affects many people in the West, where polyamory – consensual sexual relations among several people – is becoming more common.
The document from the African bishops note socio-cultural changes in Africa are very significant, and say the traditional environment on the continent “has crumbled”.
“With the ethical collapse, we now note a real distrust of traditional institutions and values, whether sociocultural, political, or religious,” SECAM says, adding the great feminist movement that began in the United States has also reached Africa.
“These ongoing transformations in Africa also require a re-examination of polygamy, the main historically documented reason for which was the high infant mortality rate in traditional societies where ensuring a large number of offspring was the supreme value to be sought,” the SECAM bishops say.
However, sociological surveys of the modern reasons for polygamy reveal that the sterility of women is the main one, but all of the reasons together are complex.
“With modernisation and evangelisation, polygamy has been discredited. Yet today, it remains alive and well. It is once again popular,” the document says, adding women, “even intellectual and Christian ones, are embracing polygamy.”
They explain that in a country where divorce is seen as a social catastrophe, and being a single woman is almost intolerable,” polygamy represents, for some, a path to salvation.
The statement strongly confirms the Catholic doctrine on the indissolubility of a Catholic marriage between one man and one woman, but looks at the practical ways to confront the issue.
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Catholic Church notes problems caused by polygamy in Africa (Crux)
