Prelate defends pro-LGBT synod preacher over article on Africa's rejection of homosexuality
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The highest-ranking African cardinal, who opposed Pope Francis' declaration on same-sex blessings, has indicated that he is open to the female diaconate.
Ambongo, who is president of the Bishops' Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), said he welcomes the fact that Pope Francis is allowing the question of the diaconate for women to be examined further.
The cardinal said that the Synod on Synodality was a "kairos moment" for the African Church, remarking: "I must say that I am happy with the synod, which had been convened to develop a new way of being Church and not to solve specific issues which exist in the Church."
However, with regard to the creation of a female diaconate, some questions need to be clarified beforehand, the Congolese cardinal observed.
Ambongo emphasized that the diaconate of women in the early Church was a ministry of service that had nothing to do with the priesthood, and was not an ordained ministry.
Over time, however, the nature of the diaconate changed and became the first stage of the priesthood.
It is, therefore, important to distinguish between the two diaconates, he clarified.
"When on Dec. 18, we received the document Fiducia Supplicans, signed by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and co-signed by His Holiness Pope Francis, it caused a shockwave in Africa," he said in an interview with Le Salon Beige.
"We didn't understand what was happening at the Church level. Furthermore, other churches that called us said: 'We count on the Catholic Church to oppose this ideology. Now, you are the first to authorize the blessing of homosexual couples,'" the cardinal stated.
Responding to a question at the press conference, Ambongo played down the article written by Cardinal-elect Fr. Timothy Radcliffe accusing the African Church of capitulating to financial pressure from non-Catholic Christians.
"I think it's important to clarify things otherwise people may think we are hiding something," Ambongo replied. "We have also read this article in which we are accused of having taken money from Russia, from the Gulf countries, and from the United States through the Pentecostal churches."
"We are at the synod and we follow the teachings of Fr. Radcliffe and I do not recognize it all," he added, explaining that Radcliffe had approached him "shocked that such things may have been written attributing these things to him."
"Father Radcliffe has never said these things and this does not correspond at all to his personality," the cardinal stressed. "I can assure you that this is something that is totally untrue this has got nothing to do with what Fr. Radcliffe has said."
"I know who wrote this article but I think that the intention of this article was to create sort of an incident, but fortunately this has not happened," he concluded.
Cardinal-elect Timothy Radcliffe, who has been the retreat-preacher to the Synod on Synodality both in 2023 and 2024, took a potshot at the conservative African bishops in a column published in the Vatican's official newspaper on Oct. 12.
Following Ambongo's intervention, Radcliffe issued a press statement clarifying that the cardinal's reply "did not refer to the article published in L'Osservatore Romano, but one by Phil Lawler in Catholic Culture of 17 October."
Radcliffe said that Lawler, a senior Catholic journalist, had "misinterpreted" what he had written in the Vatican newspaper. "I never wrote or suggested that positions taken by the Catholic Church in Africa were influenced by financial considerations," Radcliffe maintained.
"I was only acknowledging that the Catholic Church in Africa is under tremendous pressure from other religions and church which are well-funded by outside sources," the pro-LGBT Dominican friar stated.
Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.
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