“Unlike Africans, Other Critics of Same-Sex Marriage Will Come to Terms” — Pope Francis

During an interview with La Stampa on Monday, Francis described the resistance he met, especially in Africa, where bishops have rejected the same-sex marriage proposal.

The 87-year-old told the Italian Newspaper that when the blessings are given, priests who obliged should “naturally take into account the context, the sensitivities, the places where one lives and the most appropriate ways to do it”.

However, he also states that, “Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups,” except for Africans with strong resistance who he considered “special case: for them, same-sex is something ‘bad’ from a cultural point of view, they won’t tolerate it.”

His statement reads in part:

In many African countries, open displays of homosexuality or an attempt to register a sex-same marriage attracts prison sentences, such as in Nigeria where it is punishable with up to 14 years in prison.