Pope Francis admits that there is particular resistance in Africa to the blessing of same-sex couples, for cultural reasons, but says he trusts that, "little by little", everyone will realize the importance of inclusion and there won't be a schism.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, published today, when asked if the Church's openness to everyone is the great challenge of his pontificate, after having declared in Lisbon, on the occasion of World Youth Day, that the Church is for "everyone, everyone, everyone", the Pope assumed that this is "the key to understanding Jesus", because "Christ calls everyone", but admitted that he has been confronted with many questions "in recent times".

Using a parable from the Bible, that of a wedding banquet which no one attends, which leads the king to send servants to call everyone they can find to the wedding, Pope Francis pointed out that "the Son of God wants to make it clear that he doesn't want a select group, an elite", and, "afterwards, perhaps someone will be 'smuggled in', but at that point it is God who takes care of it, who shows the way".

"When people ask me: 'But can those people who are in such an improper moral situation also enter?', I assure them: 'Everyone, the Lord has said so'. Questions like this come to me especially recently, after some of my decisions," he said.

Asked specifically about the blessing of "irregular and same-sex couples", which he suggested last year, Pope Francis confirmed that he is asked "how it is possible", to which he replied that "the Gospel is to sanctify everyone, provided, of course, that there is good will", stressing that "you don't bless the union, but the people".

When asked how he is dealing with the resistance of part of the Church to his suggestion, after having spoken, in a recent television interview in Italy, of the "price of loneliness that one has to pay after a step like this", Pope Francis then pointed to the particular case of Africa.

"Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups. An example of this are the Africans: for them, homosexuality is something 'ugly' from a cultural point of view, they don't tolerate it," he said.

"But, in general, I trust that, little by little, everyone will realize the spirit of the declaration 'Fiducia supplicans' by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith: it wants to include, not divide. It invites people to welcome and then to entrust themselves to God," he added.

Asked if he fears a schism, Pope Francis said no, noting that "there have always been small groups in the Church that have expressed schismatic thoughts", but we must "look ahead".

Last year, Pope Francis suggested that there could be ways to bless same-sex unions, responding to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm the Church's teachings on homosexuality, which sparked controversy in the most conservative sectors of the Church.

Among those who have expressed bewilderment at the blessings to "irregular couples" are the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), who have even determined that they should not be carried out in these two countries because "they would create enormous scandal and confusion among the faithful".

"With regard to informal blessings for 'irregular couples', although it is a sacrament different from the liturgical blessing, we consider that, in our cultural and ecclesial context, it would create enormous scandal and confusion among the faithful, so we have determined that it should not be carried out in Angola and São Tomé," they said in a statement.

The CEAST communiqué thus reacted to Pope Francis' recent suggestion that same-sex couples should be given a blessing without transmitting "the wrong conception of marriage", stating that priests cannot become judges.

According to CEAST, their position is supported by the declaration 'Fiducia Supplicans', which they consider sufficient to guide the prudent and paternal discernment of ordained ministers" with regard to the blessings of same-sex couples, arguing further that "the document does not impose any uniform line".