Renowned Ghanaian bishop of the Catholic Church in Ghana, Cardinal Peter Turkson’s interview with the British state broadcaster, BBC, is making waves in the media landscape in Ghana, following comments he made on Ghana’s Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (anti-LGBTQI bill) and LGBTQI activities in the country.
Some sections of the public appear to be misrepresenting some of the statements made by the revered bishop to mean that he and the Catholic Church support or accept LGBTQI activities.
In the interview on BBC’s HARDtalk programme, Cardinal Turkson stated that his position on Ghana’s anti-LGBTQI bill, which has never changed, is that homosexuality is not a crime and therefore should not be criminalised as the bill seeks to do.
He noted that for something to be criminalised, there has to be an element of a crime – it must be an offence against somebody.
"LGBT people may not be criminalised because they've committed no crime… It's time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to... make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime," the cardinal explained.
This section of his interview is what many people are hammering on, leaving the other important points he made including the church's stands on same-sex marriage and attempts by the West to force Ghana to accept LGBTQI activities.
Cardinal Peter Turkson stated categorically that the Catholic Church considers same-sex relationships "objectively sinful" and would not recognise same-sex marriage.
He also pointed out that the perception that Western countries are forcing Ghana to accept LGBTQI activities by tying them to aid and trade agreements is what forced Ghana's Parliament to consider a legislation against LGBTI activities.
Watch the full remarks of the cardinal below:
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You can also watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below:
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