Vatican City • A new Vatican doctrinal note describes marriage as an exclusive and “indissoluble union” between one man and one woman, reaffirming the Catholic Church’s criticism of polygamy and polyamory.

The document, “ One Flesh: In Praise of Monogamy ,” was approved by Pope Leo XIV on Friday and published on Tuesday, when it was presented by the Vatican head of the doctrinal department, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, during a news conference at the Vatican.

“Polygamy is in opposition with moral law,” the document states in Italian. “It radically contradicts conjugal communion.”

Questions surrounding polygamy in Africa were being addressed by one of 10 study groups created after bishops and laypeople gathered at the Vatican in October 2024 for the Synod on Synodality. In their

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