{"id":133551,"date":"2023-12-21T05:56:36","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T05:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/"},"modified":"2023-12-21T05:56:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T05:56:36","slug":"kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-304859\" alt=\"\" width=\"835\" height=\"479\"  data-lazy- src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-304859\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"835\" height=\"479\"  \/>The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has taken steps to clarify the Vatican\u2019s controversial decision, stating that it allows priests to offer \u2018simple blessings\u2019 for same-sex unions only outside the liturgical setting.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing public concerns on the matter, the Kenyan bishops emphasized that the Vatican\u2019s landmark approval aims to promote inclusion regardless of the moral status of congregants. They further explained that the directive, sanctioned by Pope Francis, is a part of the church\u2019s efforts to broaden the range of pastoral blessings provided.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThis declaration does not in any way approve of \u201cSame-sex Marriages\u201d nor try to give a back-door recognition of such a union. It does not seek an alternative \u201cunion blessing\u201d to substitute a Sacramental marriage,\u201d<\/em> said Most Rev Martin Kivuva, KCCB Chairperson, said.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhat this document seeks is to awaken the invitation of all people to God\u2019s action and grace. The Church seeks to reach out to all individuals in order to stir them to the path of conversion and salvation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Kivuva further clarified that the decision \u201cdoes not alter the understanding of Marriage as a Sacrament in the Church, constituting an indissoluble union between a man and a woman for life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that the \u201cDeclaration steadfastly upholds the traditional doctrine of the Church regarding marriage, prohibiting any form of liturgical rite or blessing resembling a liturgical rite that could lead to confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Vatican Declaration a Blessing to Non-Catholics and Non-Christians<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>As a result, Kivuva said the document acknowledges the open invitation for anyone, regardless of their \u201cmoral life or faith condition,\u201d to receive blessings from the Church or a Church minister.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe Church does not withhold a blessing to an individual who seeks it with an attitude of truth and faith. \u00a0This blessing can be given even to non-Catholics, or non-Christians who honestly wish to receive God\u2019s blessing,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n<p>The KCCB Chairperson elaborated that, within the African context, the Catholic Church maintains a clear definition of family and marriage.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that the concept of same-sex marriages faces resistance within the African cultural setting, aligning with the social values prevalent in the region.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe encourage especially the understanding of blessings as a gesture of humble submission to God and His ways, while recognizing our own sinfulness and need for conversion and of Salvation,\u201d<\/em> Kivuva said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has taken steps to clarify the Vatican\u2019s controversial decision, stating that it allows priests to offer \u2018simple blessings\u2019 for same-sex unions only outside the liturgical setting. Addressing public concerns on the matter, the Kenyan bishops emphasized that the Vatican\u2019s landmark approval aims to promote inclusion regardless of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has taken steps to clarify the Vatican\u2019s controversial decision, stating that it allows priests to offer \u2018simple blessings\u2019 for same-sex unions only outside the liturgical setting. Addressing public concerns on the matter, the Kenyan bishops emphasized that the Vatican\u2019s landmark approval aims to promote inclusion regardless of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-21T05:56:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"835\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/\",\"name\":\"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-21T05:56:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-21T05:56:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg\",\"width\":835,\"height\":479},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/author\/ghanamma\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has taken steps to clarify the Vatican\u2019s controversial decision, stating that it allows priests to offer \u2018simple blessings\u2019 for same-sex unions only outside the liturgical setting. Addressing public concerns on the matter, the Kenyan bishops emphasized that the Vatican\u2019s landmark approval aims to promote inclusion regardless of the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2023-12-21T05:56:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":835,"height":479,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/","name":"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-21T05:56:36+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-21T05:56:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/vatican-blessing-same-sex.jpg","width":835,"height":479},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/21\/kenyan-bishops-react-to-vatican-blessings-for-same-sex-couples\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kenyan Bishops React to Vatican Blessings for Same-Sex Couples"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/6f91dab2e50bbbfe895c93e7e84e7f74","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}