Originally published at The Crux
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A new document released by the Vatican on Tuesday he asserts the Catholic Church’s stance against polygamy, a situation often affecting African dioceses.
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
