Africa,
Islam and the light of the Gospel on Synod agenda
(Vatican Radio) How the Church upholds the dignity of
homosexuals in Africa. How it deals with the problems of a polygamous family.
And why it’s essential for bishops to have good relations with leaders of other
religious traditions. Those were some of the many different issues discussed by
bishops at the Synod for the Family, as presented in the press briefing for
Vatican journalists on Wednesday.
Speaking
alongside Fr Federico Lombardi and his assistants were Nigerian Archbishop
Ignatius Kaigama and Argentinean Archbishop Victor Fernandez, as Philippa
Hitchen reports….
Wednesday morning’s Synod session began with the very moving story
of a Catholic woman from Ivory Coast, married to a Muslim man. That personal
testimony set the tone for much discussion about the very practical problems
facing Church leaders in Africa as they deal with a wide variety of complex and
country-specific problems.
How
should they react if a man with many wives and children becomes a Catholic? How
should they respond to pressures from international organisations linking
financial aid to the need for population control? And how can they uphold
Church teaching on marriage while defending the dignity of gay people who are
criminalised in a number of African countries? Archbishop Kaigama said the
Church’s position against criminalisation has been misrepresented in the media:
“We would defend any person with a homosexual orientation who is
being harassed, imprisoned or punished….so when the media takes our story they
should balance it….we try to share our point of view (but) we don’t punish
them. The government may want to punish them but we don’t, in fact we will work
to tell the government to stop punishing those who have different orientations.”
The challenges facing mixed marriages in other parts of the world
too have been high on the Synod’s agenda, with a focus on the importance of
strong interfaith relations between leaders of the different communities.
Canadian Fr Tom Rosica shared points highlighted by English speaking bishops at
the meeting:
“The complexities of Islamo-Christian relations, marriages and
families…in each country we heard detailed reports about what takes place….what
law do we appeal to….the importance of Catholic leaders in Christian minority
countries to have good relations with civic and religious leaders..”
Latin American Church leaders focused on family problems created
by poverty, migration, domestic violence and the macho culture, as well as issues
that are specific to different indigenous cultures in their countries.
Archbishop Fernandez shared some fascinating insights about
Cardinal Bergoglio’s experience in Argentina and his current drive to promote
authentic debate among the broader family of Synod fathers gathered here in
Rome.
Finally, Fr Lombardi described an image of the Church proving
popular amongst Synod participants: while their task is to share the light of
the Gospel, he said, it’s not the cold, distant beam of a lighthouse, but rather
the warm, ‘kindly’ light of a torch, which we carry with us, as Cardinal Newman
so poetically put it, to guide our feet, one step at a time.
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