Catholic Church notes problems caused by polygamy in Africa
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 institutions and values, whether sociocultural, political, or religious,” SECAM says, adding the great feminist movement that began in the United States has also reached Africa.
“These ongoing transformations in Africa also require a re-examination of polygamy, the main historically documented reason for which was the high infant mortality rate in traditional societies where ensuring a large number of offspring was the supreme value to be sought,” the SECAM bishops say.
However, sociological surveys of the modern reasons for polygamy reveal that the sterility of women is the main one, but all of the reasons together are complex.
“With modernization and evangelization, polygamy has been discredited. Yet today, it remains alive and well. It is once again popular,” the document says, adding women, “even intellectual and Christian ones, are embracing polygamy.”
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“Moreover, polygamy coexists with its modern version, the system of multiple offices, which is far from being unique to Africa. Except that here, from a traditional point of view, it is not a question of cohabitation, since ‘the offices’ have been ‘endowed.’ It is a ‘veiled’ polygamy,” the bishops add.
They explain that in a country where divorce is seen as a social catastrophe, and being a single woman is almost intolerable,” polygamy represents, for some, a path to salvation.
The statement says polygamy among the baptized is often motivated by reasons of permanent illness or the need for biological offspring, without which it is difficult to maintain a home in many African cultures.
The statement strongly confirms the Catholic doctrine on the indissolubility of a Catholic marriage between one man and one woman, but looks at the practical ways to confront the issue.
It says there are four common pastoral practices: The choice of the first or favorite wife, the baptism of the first wife, the status of permanent catechumen, and “veiled polygamy.”
SECAM says several dioceses use the “favorite wife” method.
“When a polygamist, baptized or not, requests full integration into the Church and access to the sacraments, he is asked to choose one of his spouses. However, the man must provide the spouses who were not chosen and their offspring with what they need for survival,” the statement says.
“This is a matter of doing justice to the women who were not chosen and their children, while the Church offers forgiveness to the polygamist for his sins and ‘opens the door of faith’ and sacramental grace,” the bishops say.
Looking at proposals advocating the status of a “permanent catechumen” – which means the person would not receive baptism or the other sacraments – they say this means the person is accepted into the community and remains a catechumen, “given the impossibility of breaking the marital bonds of polygamy and the obligations towards children and wives that these bonds imply.”
“This pastoral measure does not provide access to the sacraments,” the document says, explaining that it instead “offers accompaniment and gradual integration that allows the polygamist and his family to participate in the life of the community, but without being fully integrated by the sacraments, because his marital situation violates the Christian understanding of monogamy.”
“Indeed,” the SECAM bishops say, “welcoming only one member of this polygamous relationship would mean receiving all and integrating them into the life of the Church and its sacraments.”
“On the other hand, this polygamous family can request the baptism of their children, receive the sacramentals offered by the Church, and lead a life of Christian witness. Moreover, it is generally women in polygamous relationships who approach the Church with their children to request baptism,” the bishops continue, adding men usually stay away from this type of approach.
However, the document says choosing the first wife in the polygamous relationship means the other women are “victims,” and the other family or families must receive proper help.
The bishops say “veiled” polygamy can legitimately help women and children seeking baptism, while the man continues his polygamous relationship.
“This situation is harmful to society and the Church, even if it does not pose a doctrinal problem,” they say.
“The main difficulty lies in the fact that the woman is traditionally considered the mother of the married man’s children and that her life separated from the father of her children is frowned upon in society and in the Christian community,” the document says.
“On the other hand,” the bishops say, “children need the care and affection of their father. Hence the need to form to Christian maturity not only those who are taking the initiatory journey, but also the entire Christian community, so that it may accompany those who seek to know the Gospel and live by it.”