Anti-LGBTQI bill: What is happening in the Catholic Church, why the flip-flop? - Sam George slams Bishop Conference

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has taken a swipe at the Catholic Church in Ghana over the church’s stance that homosexuals and homosexuality must not be criminalised, as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (anti-LGBTQI bill) seeks to.

According to the MP, the former President of the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference, Most Rev Philip Naameh, the Archbishop of Tamale of the Archdiocese of the Church, was one of the people who led him to present the bill to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, but now his successor, Most Rev Matthew Gyamfi, is speaking against the bill.

Sam George, who made these remarks in an interview on Star FM, wondered what was happening in the Catholic Church and accused the church of flip-flopping on its position on Ghana's anti-LGBTQI bill.

“… I would want to find out what is going on in the Catholic Church, with the greatest respect, and in the Catholic Bishop Conference. Because the predecessor of the current head of the Catholic Bishop Conference, Bishop Naameh, was one of the people who walked with me and my colleagues to present this bill to the Speaker of Parliament.

“Archdiocese Naameh is on record to have stated its support for the Catholic Bishop Conference for this bill. Then you have a new head of the Catholic Bishop Conference come up after his term has ended, Archdiocese Gyamfi comes up and now this is the position," he said.

The MP added, “What is going on with the Catholic Bishop Conference, why the flip-flopping? We need to question our spiritual authority and men of the clerk; they are not beyond questioning… has there been a revising to the Bible that influenced the position of the Catholic Bishop Conference in 2021”.

Sam George also criticised the Catholic Church for not calling out the supposed criminalisation of polygamy in Western Countries like the United States of America but is speaking against the criminalisation of LGBTQI activities.

What Most Rev Matthew Gyamfi said:

The Catholic Church in Ghana threw its weight behind remarks made by Cardinal Peter Turkson on Ghana’s Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (anti-LGBTQI bill) and LGBTQI activities in the country.

According to the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference, the cardinal’s stance that Ghana should not criminalise homosexuality, as the anti-LGBTQI bill in its current forms seeks to do, has been the position of the church and has not changed.

Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sunyani and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, said that though the church does not condone LGBTQI activities, it also does not support it being considered a crime.

He explained that even though homosexual activities are considered as a sin by the church, they do not rise to the level of being a crime.

“That has always been the stance of the Catholic Church, that we should not criminalise homosexuality and homosexuals.

"It may be a moral aberration but does not rise to the level where homosexuals, lesbians and gays are considered as criminals. That is the position of the Catholic Church and that has been the position of the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference," the bishop said.

Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi also clarified that what the church has been fighting for is that homosexuality should not be legalised in Ghana to become a norm because all the religions in Ghana and the culture of Africans appals these activities.

“The church does not accept that, Muslims do not accept that, Africans do not accept that. So, it should not be legalised for it to become a norm as part of our culture, that is different from saying it is a crime,” he explained.

He also refuted the assertion that the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has said that the church would bless same-sex marriage.

He said that the pope was only saying that LGBQT persons should be treated with love and not hatred; adding that the church would never bless same-sex marriage.

Watch Sam George's remarks in the video below:

Sam George criticised Cardinal Peter Turkson, whom this week in a BBC interview said that LGBTQI+ should not be criminalised and that Ghanaian culture have always had persons with such. The Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference supported the Cardinal's stance. Hon. Alexander...

2/3 pic.twitter.com/pUfUHukmKc

— Rightify Ghana (@RightifyGhana) November 30, 2023

...Afenyo Markin, Deputy Majority Leader, also said his views are in line with the leadership of the Catholic Church in Ghana, since he is a member of the church.

Sam George was interviewed on Starr FM in Accra, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/QQRUkPsMzM

— Rightify Ghana (@RightifyGhana) November 30, 2023