Catholic Bishops have said they are not seeking the
punishment or jailing of gay people. The
Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, has called on Nigerians,
especially the media to stop condemning gay people. The bishops reiterated
their earlier stand that gays and lesbians did not deserve severe punishment or
jail term.
In an article titled, "Still on Same-Sex Union and the Stand
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria", by the group’s director of
social communication, Chris Anyanwu, the CBCN accused journalists of twisting
the position of the bishops. There is certainly an obsession by some
journalists about ‘severe punishment of gays or lesbians’ and they try to twist
the Bishops’ statements to articulate their views.
"Nigerian Catholic bishops are very responsible pastors who
do not seek the punishment or jailing of persons who err, but to help them unto
salvation," Mr. Anyanwu, a reverend father, said.
According to him, the tone of some news stories attributed
to the president of the CBCN, Ignatius Kaigama, were far from those intended to
achieve the aim of his original message.
"In wrongly reading the letter of the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in January 2015 to President Goodluck Jonathan,
some international organizations mischievously reduced the CBCN position to
advocating severe punishment of gays or lesbians with long prison terms," wrote
Mr. Anyanwu. What the CBCN supported, blessed and commended in their letter of
21st January, 2015 to former President Goodluck Jonathan was because the
Nigerian government upheld the dignity and sanctity of marriage even in the
face of all sorts of pressure.
"When, therefore, the federal government resisted the
attempt to impose this culture on Nigerians by legislating against ‘same-sex
union’, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria felt a sense of great relief and issued
a statement to affirm government’s decision," he noted.
"The Archbishop Kaigama we know is a careful and
pastorally-minded prelate who would not have used such words as: ‘shameful’,
‘barbaric’, ‘madness’, etc. to refer to anyone.
"Our stand was and is ‘no to same sex union’ and ‘no to
spreading of the homosexual culture’ which can only complicate our struggle to
uphold traditional/ religious/moral values in our country," he said.
3 Comments
What are they saying?
ReplyDeleteThey're right.
ReplyDeleteDey are sitting on the fence.
ReplyDelete