On December 18 last year, the Vatican made a startling announcement that Catholic priests can now bless same-sex couples.
The Roman Catholic Church, arguably the largest Christian church with 1.378 billion baptised members worldwide as of 2021, made a radical shift in policy aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining a strict ban on gay marriages.
In 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith at the Vatican declared without hesitation that the church cannot bless same-sex couples because "God cannot bless sin."
The dicastery is the oldest among the nine congregations of the Roman Curia, founded to defend the church from heresy in 2021.
However, in the new document (Fiducia Supplicans), the Vatican urges the church to avoid “doctrinal or disciplinary schemes, especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism whereby instead of evangelising, one analyses and classifies others.”
Pope Francis therefore says a blessing is "a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered."
The Vatican document is clear: yes, same-sex couples are in a state of sin, but they should not be deprived of God's mercy and love, so bless them.
The LGBTQ debate has been quite emotive in Kenya since the days of Binyavanga Wainaina.
In 2014, Wainaina, a literary figure, publicly came out and declared, 'I am homosexual.'
The Kenyan author and founder of the influential Nairobi-based literary journal Kwani said he was mulling over coming out on Twitter (now X) but later decided to do it in a longer form.
Binyavanga made the disclosure in an article entitled I am a homosexual, mum, coinciding with his 43rd birthday on January 18, 2014.
"Never, mum. I did not trust you, mum. And. I. Pulled air hard and balled it down into my navel, and let it out slow and firm, clean and without bumps out of my mouth, loud and clear over a shoulder, into her ear. 'I am a homosexual, mum,'" he wrote.
In Kenya, as per the Penal Code, gays and lesbians risk a jail term of up to 14 years if convicted of homosexual acts.
Most religious groups also frown at homosexuality, and even traditionalists say it's unAfrican, as nearly half of the countries where homosexuality is outlawed are in Africa, according to a 2020 global review by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.
In 2006, South Africa became the first African country to legalise same-sex marriages and remains the only African nation to do so.
A bill was also introduced in 2018 to criminalise hate crimes and hate speech, and in 2020, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa assented to it.
The Civil Union Amendment Act prohibits marriage officers from refusing to conduct same-sex marriages.
However, the LGBT community in Kenya recently got a bittersweet win in the battle for rights.
In a ruling by the Supreme Court in Kenya, the community was given the right to associate. The apex court criticised the government's failure to register an association for the group, terming the decision discriminatory.
The Supreme Court says that though same-sex unions remain illegal in Kenya, everybody has a right of association.
The majority decision by the highest court in the land ruled that the Non-Governmental Coordination Board was discriminatory in refusing to register any of six names proposed by the community’s representatives, among them, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Council.
Evangelical churches led a strong opposition against the ruling.
Christ is the Answer Ministries presiding Bishop Calisto Odede said the ruling could allow “other illegal practitioners like paedophiles and those involved in incest” to also have the right of association.
“There may be many people who are struggling with different kinds of sexual desires, but they have not gone to court for the whole nation to recognise them,” Odede said.
In some quarters, the ruling is a bittersweet victory, as the LGBTQ community is still subject to harassment, exclusion and violence.
Human rights groups are meanwhile campaigning for anti-homosexual laws to be overturned.
Could the pronouncement by the Vatican also herald a new chapter of peace and recognition for same-sex couples in Kenya?
Well, some bishops were outraged and frowned at the announcement, saying it appeared to be a form of heresy.
In a move against the Fiducia Supplicans declaration, Nairobi Archbishop Philip Anyolo opposed the decision to bless same-sex couples.
Anyolo said on December 23 last year that the decision is in conflict with the traditional Catholic doctrine of marriage and family.
Citing teachings from the Bible, the archbishop said that the church firmly condemns the proposal and remains unwelcome.
"The word of God also strongly condemns such unions (Romans 1:24–27; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 1:10). The African cultural traditions equally detest it, as it is against the transmission of life," he said.
Anyolo prohibited clerics ministering in the Archdiocese of Nairobi from blessing same-sex couples.
"Any form of blessing of same-sex unions and activities would go against God's word, the teaching of the church, the African cultural traditions and the laws of our nations, and would be scandalous to the faithful," he said.
Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru of the Catholic Diocese of Wote also barred priests in the diocese from blessing same-sex couples.
In a statement on December 28 last year in Wote jurisdiction, Bishop Kariuki said the Vatican's decision seriously contradicts scripture.
“In fact, what is disturbing in this declaration is that, on one hand, it directs the priests to bless these couples without specifying what exactly is being blessed, while on the other hand, it expressly forbids any ritual text that might specify it,” Bishop Kariuki said in the statement.
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, however, issued a statement earlier regarding Pope Francis' announcement to allow Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.
KCCB chairman Archbishop Martin Kivuva said that the blessing that the Pope referred to was "simple blessings that are not given in a liturgical setting."
"The value of this document, however, is that it offers a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings, permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings, Kivuva said.
He referred to it as an invocation to God to look upon the needs of his child and affirmed that the church does not endorse or approve any immoral action that the receiver of the blessings engages in.
The archbishop ascertained that the intention of the blessings and prayers is to encourage personal transformation and a return to a righteous way of life in accordance with the teachings of God.
KCCB also underscored that marriage is a sacrament between man and woman, and that remains unchanged despite Pope Francis' announcement.
Some critics have dismissed the Fiducia Supplicans declaration as a fig leaf, a PR exercise to make it seem like a step towards acceptance for the LGBTQ community.
The group's apologists say nothing less than equality will work for same-sex couples because that’s what they truly deserve.