In response to new Vatican guidelines permitting nonliturgical pastoral blessings of homosexual couples, the bishops of Africa issued a united statement in which they said there will be “no blessing ...

(CNN) — Pope Francis has addressed criticism over his consent to priests to bless same-sex couples, saying the pushback from African bishops was “a special case” influenced by culture. The Symposium ...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In the greatest rebuke yet to Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar issued a unified statement Thursday refusing to follow his declaration allowing priests to ...

VATICAN CITY — In the greatest rebuke yet to Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar issued a unified statement Thursday refusing to follow his declaration allowing priests to ...

YAOUNDÈ, Cameroon – In effect, the Catholic leadership of Africa has issued an emphatic, and unified, “no” in response to a Dec. 18 Vatican declaration authorizing the non-liturgical blessing of ...

It is out of step with the continent’s values, many bishops say, and threatens to derail expansion in the church’s fastest growing region in the world. By John Eligon Reporting from Mthatha, South ...

Bishops in several African countries will not allow blessings for same-sex couples as opposition to a Vatican declaration continues to grow on the continent, but bishops globally remain heavily ...

Cardinal Stephen Brislin, the spokesperson for the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said that the conference “has taken a slightly different stand from the rest of Africa” on the Vatican ...

The letter, issued Jan. 11, was written by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). Cardinal Ambongo said that the letter is a ...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In the greatest rebuke yet to Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar issued a unified statement Thursday refusing to follow his declaration allowing priests to ...