Polygamy, the pressure of tradition, and lack of consideration for women are the major threats against the family, according to the Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Togo, who arrived in Rome on Monday for their Ad Limina visit. In a meeting at the Pontifical Council for the Family, the president of the Pastoral Commission, Msgr. Jacques Danka Longa, stressed the importance of Togo's family ministry, in the accompaniment of couples preparing for marriage and through family associations and movements such as the Equipes Notre-Dame and the Association Foyer Chrétien.
Young people have a "great desire to get married", but they are hampered by the "weight of tradition, which brings with it the problem of polygamy and the dowry", together—he said—with the awareness that it is "forever." Some young men, he said, "do not want to be bound because they are afraid that they cannot take another wife if the first one cannot have children," since a great deal of attention is paid to the issue of procreation. "Usually, infertile couples end up divorcing, because in that cultural context a family without children is difficult to conceive. Moreover, when couple does not have children, the 'blame' is always put on the woman."
As pastors, the Bishops of Togo make an effort "to accompany these couples so that they may live their marriage serenely" even in these circumstances, and in spite of pressure from the family of origin, which "often urges a man to divorce his barren woman and to marry another one."
The role and the dignity of women "are always at stake," continued one Bishop, noting that the efforts of family ministry are aimed at "making people aware of the importance of women in the family and in society." Likewise, the Bishops are committed to the promotion of life and the fight against gender theory: "Pressure on the family is strong, but we think that gender ideology can be overcome only by working with families."
