Single Motherhood by Choice and the Catholic Church: Lessons from Magombe Parish in Busia, Western Kenya

Description

Single motherhood by choice, as a contemporary way of family life, is a reality all over the world. However, the Catholic Church’s orthodox tenet on family envisages single motherhood by choice as a betrayal of responsible fatherhood and motherhood that is enshrined in vocation to family life as designed and willed by God right from the time of creation. This book encourages discourse on how, today, due to modern transformations through existential humanistic attitude, movements, and liberal changes from the Western world, the phenomenon of single motherhood by choice has caught up in African family setup as a fashionable expression of autonomy, unlimited freedom of choice, human right, personal right and self actualization. As such, the ever-increasing involved group of women is persistently demanding for their pastoral rights from the church. Resultantly, the Catholic Church is in a pastoral dilemma of whether to officially accept them or ex-communicate them from her flock. This milieu is increasingly questioning the Catholic Church’s orthodox doctrinal position with regard to issues of family in the contemporary society. The discussion in this work call for greater reckoning than has ever been given in the past towards this dilemma.

Emmanuel Barasa Chumbe is a Diocesan Catholic Priest of Bungoma Diocese as well as an Assistant Lecturer at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology – Kakamega (K). Currently undertaking his PhD (Religion) studies at Kisii University- Kenya, Chumbe holds a Diploma of Theology (St Thomas Aquinas Seminary of Nairobi Kenya), Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Bachelor of Philosophy degrees (Urbaniana University of Rome) and a Master of Arts (Religion) from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.