The Catholic Bishops of the Lagos Ecclesiastical Province, comprising Lagos Archdiocese, Ijebu Ode, and Abeokuta Dioceses, have again rejected Pope Francis decision to bless same-sex marriage.
The bishops’ rejection of the new advice by the Pope was contained in a communiqué issued after their January 26 plenary meeting in Lagos.
Pope Francis had said in January, Catholics who stand against the church blessing same-sex marriages will gradually come to accept the decision of the church to do so.
In the Catholic Church, a blessing is a prayer or plea, usually delivered by a minister, asking God to look favourably at the person(s) being blessed.
The Nigerian Bishops communique, signed by their chairman and secretary, Archbishop of Lagos and Bishop of Ijebu-Ode, Most Rev Alfred Martins, and Most Rev Francis Adesina, respectively, the bishops declared: “No to blessing of same-sex unions.”
“We affirm that the teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage as the union of a man and a woman in a stable and exclusive relationship, open to bearing children, remains the same. We also affirm the Church’s teaching on human sexuality and urge the faithful to be guided by it,” they said.
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