Continental dissent

A coalition of African Catholic bishops has rejected Pope Francis’ recent decision to allow priests to bless gay couples. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar and a member of the pope’s Council of Cardinals, wrote Jan. 11 that “unions of persons of the same sex are contrary to the will of God and therefore cannot receive the blessing of the Church.”

Since the pope’s doctrinal office released guidelines for nonliturgical, same-sex blessings in December, clergy reactions have varied. But Ambongo said the African bishops are united in their decision not to offer the blessings, given the Biblical injunctions against homosexuality—and African cultural norms. The blessings, he added, would make it “very difficult” to preserve the Biblical definition of marriage.

But Ambongo appears unlikely to draw the Vatican’s ire. He did not decry use of the guidelines outside Africa. He wrote the letter with permission from the pope and the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, including a note that the pope is “opposed to any form of cultural colonization in Africa” and therefore willing to allow the African bishops to disagree.

Privacy limits

In a case testing the boundaries of Canadian religious liberty, British Columbia’s Supreme Court has ordered two Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations to turn over records containing personal information about two former members’ break with the religious group. The ex-members, Gabriel Wall and Gregory Westgarde, both asked to see their records in 2020. When the Jehovah’s Witnesses denied their requests, they turned to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), which ordered the congregations to turn over the records. The congregations went to court, claiming the order infringed their religious freedoms. But on Jan. 8, Justice Steven Wilson ruled that the Coldstream and Grand Forks congregations have no right to withhold the records from the OIPC. The OIPC will evaluate the records to verify that they don’t qualify for artistic, literary, or journalistic protections before turning them over to Wall and Westgarde. —E.R.

Punishing prayers for peace

A prominent Russian Orthodox priest was fired in early January and is facing expulsion from the church after refusing to read a prayer for victory over Ukraine. Aleksiy Uminsky, who served a Moscow church for 30 years and led Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral, lost his position after telling fellow priests to “pray more for peace than for victory.” Patriarch Kirill made the pro-Russian “Prayer for Holy Rus” mandatory after the invasion of Ukraine. —E.R.