Africa will save marriage, family, Cardinal Sarah vows
September 18, 2015
“It will be Africa, and therefore the Church, who will save the family,” Cardinal Robert Sarah said in an interview with the National Catholic Register.
Cardinal Sarah, a native of Guinea who now serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, continued:
Marriage between a man and a woman is also marriage between man and the Church, who is the Bride of Christ. Destroying the first union is destroying also the second. Therefore, Africa will not yield a millimeter on this.
The African cardinal—who will deliver the keynote address at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next week—said that although the family faces serious difficulties in today’s world, “I am convinced that men and women, especially young people, desire great things.” The Church, he said, should help the faithful to pursue holiness “and not to give up because the commitment is too great.”
Regarding calls for a change in Church teachings on marriage, Cardinal Sarah said that doctrine must be understood not as a set of rules but as God’s law. “If priests, bishops, and also the Synod fathers consider doctrine as if looking through an antique store’s window and not as a living body,” he said, “I fear that they are betraying their vocation.”
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
