The Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria has commended the stance of Catholic Bishops in Africa on blessing same sex couples. Pope Francis had through a declaration entitled Fiducia Supplicans on December 18, 2023, formally approved allowing Catholic Priests bless same sex couples, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the Church more inclusive, while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage. The Order said that the action of the African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has extensively assured Christians that the teachings of the Catholic Church on marriage remains untouched.
Sir (Dr.) Charles Mbelede, Supreme Knight, Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba, Nigeria, made this assertion in a statement made available to The Catholic Herald weekly newspaper. He said, “The Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria commends the principled stance of the Catholic Bishops in Africa against the blessings of same sex couples, as contained in the recent statement of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. “
The Order is enthused that the stance had, apart from reassuring millions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike, that the core values and teachings of the Church remained intact, thus restating the Church’s opposition to homo sexual unions. The statement also simplified ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ for easy reading and understanding, pointing out that the encyclical, as it relates to the African Church, remained only for reflections and not for implementation.”
According to him, to underscore the importance attached to their collective position on the issue, individual Bishops’ Conferences escalated locally the imports of the Symposium. “In Nigeria, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in a statement signed by its President and Secretary, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji and Bishop Donatus Ogun respectively, reassured Nigerian Catholic faithful, that there was no possibility of blessing same sex couples in Nigeria, since it is offensive to the law of God on marriages, stressing that the Church remained committed to Catholic values, doctrines and nuances,” the Supreme Knight stated. On a final note, Sir Mbelede said, “As always the Order will continue to align with all decisions of CBCN on the issue of ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ and will continue to support it both financially and morally, in its untiring efforts to live the world wholly Christo -centric.”
