Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, has acknowledge the difficulty in getting Africans to accept blessings for same-sex couples.
Speaking in an interview published by Italian newspaper, La Stampa, on Monday, Pope Francis recognized Africans as a special case perceive homosexuality as culturally repugnant .
The pontiff said: “Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups. A special case is Africans: for them, homosexuality is something bad from a cultural point of view, they don’t tolerate it.
“But in general, I trust that gradually everyone will be reassured by the spirit of the ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith: it aims to include, not divide,” he added.
Pope Francis has said that African culture is making people on the continent intolerant of blessings for same-sex couples.
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The head of the Catholic Church had in December, stirred a storm of controversies with a document the Vatican called Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust), which allowed blessings for gay couples.
The directive to bishops to bless the same-sex couples was criticised by many, especially some African bishops, who vehemently opposed it.
For instance, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria announced that Catholic churches in Nigeria would not abide by the directive although the Vatican later clarified that the blessings should not be included in regular church ceremonies or linked to civil unions or weddings, reiterating that marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
“That would go against God’s law, the teachings of the Church, the laws of our nation, and the cultural sensibilities of our people,” the Nigerian bishops said in a statement.