The Silence Is Breaking: Post-Francis Unrest and the Fight for the Church’s Soul

With Pope Francis gone critics of his theological legacy are finding their voice and Cardinal Ambongo’s blunt intervention reveals that opposition to Rome’s direction was never just an 'African thing'

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“The position taken by Africa … was also the position of so many bishops here in Europe. It’s not just an African exception.”
— Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, July 1, 2025

Since the release of Fiducia Supplicans in December 2023, the mainstream narrative has been relatively unchallenged: that opposition to the document came primarily from African bishops, rooted in cultural sensitivities or local political pressures. In contrast, Western bishops—perhaps with some discomfort—or perhaps, not enough—were assumed to have largely acquiesced to Rome’s call for the blessing of couples in “irregular” unions.

But Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), and a key figure on Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, has now directly challenged that framing. In his latest remarks, he makes clear that opposition to Fiducia Supplicans is not simply an “African exception”—it is shared by many bishops in Europe, even if they have remained largely silent.

This is a remarkable and revealing intervention. By publicly acknowledging the broader episcopal discomfort with the direction and interpretation of Fiducia Supplicans, one wonders if Ambongo has blown apart the “cultural” argument. He redirects attention to the true source of tension: doctrine. The debate over blessing same-sex couples—or any couple in a non-sacramental union—is not merely about local customs or social taboos. It is about whether the Church can, in any meaningful theological sense, bless a union that stands objectively contrary to its moral teaching. Of course, it can’t, as Catholic Unscripted regular Dr. Larry Chapp articulated so clearly in his excoriation of the dreadful document.