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The Vatican has warned against the rise of polyamory, insisting that marriage is a stable, lifelong, exclusive partnership between a man and a woman.
A new document defending monogamy, signed by Pope Leo Consultations also continued with African Roman Catholic bishops on polygamy, which has been described as a “pastoral challenge” for the Church in the region and was discussed at the Vatican Synod in 2023 and 2024.
Polygamy tends to refer to one man having multiple wives, while polyamory refers to people having multiple consensual romantic relationships at once.
“Polygamy, adultery, or polygamy is based on the illusion that the strength of a relationship is seen in a series of faces,” says the doctrinal note titled “Monogamy – Celebrating Monogamy.” “In fact, our time is experiencing a number of drifts when it comes to love: increased divorce, the fragility of marriage, the trivialization of infidelity, and the promotion of polyamory.”
The 40-page document emphasizes the importance of marriage between a man and a woman, and Vatican Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the document’s purpose is to reveal the reasons for “a unique and exclusive union of love, a choice of rich and complete belonging to one another.”
The memo also says it emphasizes the church’s evolving understanding of sex in marriage. In other words, it means more than having children.
In the Catholic understanding, sex in marriage has two aspects. One is “unity,” which can bring couples closer together and reflect God’s love, and the other is “procreation,” which means having children. Catholic teaching prohibits the use of artificial contraceptives. Although this ban has been upheld by recent popes, it has been hotly debated and rejected by some within the church.
The latest doctrinal note states that “unity is a fundamental asset of marriage” and that “the purpose of unity in sexual orientation is not limited to ensuring…procreation.”
