“Southern Africa is also impacted by the international trends of secularization, individualization, and relativism,” the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference said in its summary of diocesan synod deliberations.

“Issues such as the Church’s teaching on abortion, contraception, ordination of women, married clergy, celibacy, divorce and remarriage, Holy Communion, homosexuality, LGBTQIA+ were raised up across the dioceses both rural an urban. There were of course differing views on these and it is not possible to give a definitive community stance on any of these issues.”