The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), of which CERNA is a part, firmly communicated its refusal to bless same-sex unions in statement on January 11. It asserted that "extra-liturgical blessings proposed in the declaration Fiducia supplicans cannot take place in Africa without exposing themselves to scandals." The various conferences of bishops in Africa had until the second half of January to express their views and work on a common response to the declaration. Apparently, SECAM did not wait to receive the thoughts of the Church leaders in North Africa. "The positive reception of Fiducia supplicans is therefore more theoretical than practical," he noted.
