The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, has called on all well-meaning Ghanaians to support the campaign against the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Trans-gender (LGBTQ+) activities in the country.
He said this can be achieved through the passage of the “Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values” bill currently before parliament for consideration.
Most Reverend Naameh, who is also the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, made the call at the opening session of the plenary of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference in Wa on Monday.
The Conference is on the theme: “Fratelli Tutti and Covid-19: Pastoral Opportunities and Challenges in Ghana”.
“I wish to appeal to all well-meaning Ghanaians to support this bill by impacting or influencing our parliamentarians to vote against this canker or virus called LGBT and that they ensure that this bill is passed into law”, Most Rev. Naameh said.
Talking on the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the country over a year and half now, Most Rev. Bishop Naameh noted that the outbreak of the pandemic negatively impacted all sectors of the national economy including education, health, the economy and religious activities, among others.
He said it affected evangelism in the country as churches were closed at the peak of the pandemic saying, “A good number of persons have since not returned to church due to the fear of infections”.
According to him the impact of the Covid-19 on Pastoralism in the country had presented an opportunity for the church to harness the potential of ICT and digitalization to proclaim the gospel.
“Inability to be physically present should no longer be an obstacle to participation in the life of the parish community
“The Covid-19 has presented the church with an excellent opportunity to harness this technology as an effective pastoral tool for reaching out to her faithful”, Most Rev. Naameh explained.
He also urged the government to implement policies and interventions that would lead to the creation of jobs for the unemployed you as part of measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
“Open and honest dialogue be initiated between government and all stakeholders to address difficulties that have arisen in the education and health sectors due to the covid-19 pandemic”, the Bishop added.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, commended the Catholic Church for its tremendous contribution to the development of the region.
He said the church had played and continues to play crucial role in promoting education, health and the development human capital in the region.
The Regional Minister noted that government will continue to partner with the Catholic Church for the development of the Upper West Region in particular and Ghana in general.
The one week conference is expected to end on Friday with a communiqué on the conference outcome.
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