By Damian Avevor
Members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) and heads of the Member Churches of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), have unequivocally stated that same sex unions are alien to the Ghanaian culture and cannot be tolerated or accepted in the country.
“Our cultural values uphold the family system as an integral part of the survival of communities and the nation at large. Therefore, we shall not and cannot accept the orientation towards same sex unions and relationships as a fundamental human right, they said.
This was contained in a press statement issued on May 21 after the GCBC and CCG Annual Joint Meeting on May 16 at the Mary Mother of Good Counsel Catholic Church at Airport West.
The two Bodies meet once a year to pray for Christian unity and deliberate on issues that would enhance and foster inter-religious dialogue as well as address issues of national and international concern.
The four-page Communique was signed by Most Rev. Philip Naameh, President of the GCBC and Very Rev. Fr. Lazarus Anondee, Secretary General of the GCBC. Other signatories are Rt. Rev. Dr. Seth Agidi and Rev. Dr. Cyril G. K. Fayose Chairman and General Secretary of Christian Council of Ghana.
The Communique touched on various national issues including: Christian Spirituality in Ghana, Fight against Bribery and Corruption, the 2018 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), Free SHS Programme, New Reforms on Colleges of Education, Illegal Mining (Galamsay), and Carnage on our Roads.
The Religious Leaders commended the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Honourable Prof. Mike Ocquaye for his stance against the legalization of LGBT rights in Ghana and called on the Government never allow itself to be cowed down nor succumb to the pressure to legalise the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.
They stressed that “As Christians, who uphold the Bible as our principal guide, we consider same sex unions as unacceptable unions that our God frowns upon (cf. Leviticus 20:13-16).”
According to them, they will resist any attempt, either latent or manifest, by any individual, Political Party, Civil Society, Human Rights’ Activist or Government to legalise LGBT rights in Ghana.
The Religious however expressed their willingness and availability to provide the needed pastoral care and support to persons with LGBT tendencies in a non-condemning manner and pledged to treat such persons with unconditional positive regard at all times.
On Christian Spirituality in Ghana, the leaders observed with very grave concern the various abuses in some worshipping centres in country in the name of spirituality, prophetic revelations and divine intervention.
These happenings in the Christian fraternity, according to the GCBC and CCG discredited the Gospel and cause people to despise the positive influence of the Word of God.
“We are concerned that the role of Christianity “as the salt of the earth and light of the world” (cf. Matt 5:13-14) is losing impact as a result of the self-serving practices of some Christian leaders. We abhor such practices and call upon such leaders to tend the flock of the Lord faithfully.”
On Fight against Bribery and Corruption, the Christian Leaders called for transparency and integrity in investigations to ascertain corrupt practices and demand that culprits be duly prosecuted in accordance with the laws of our country.
The Communique added that “All Ghanaians, especially Christians, are called upon to work harder to eliminate the evil of bribery and corruption, to cherish fearless honesty, probity and accountability.”
As the Pupils in Junior High Schools across the country prepare to sit for the 2018 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) from June 4, the Religious Leaders congratulated them in advance with their prayerful wishes of God’s grace for each candidate and for success in the examinations.
They called on the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to ensure that all challenges that had arisen in past have been dealt with in order to facilitate the smooth process of the examination this year.
The Religious Leaders added: “We urge the Examination Council, Invigilators, Parents and the candidates to take caution to avoid any embarrassment through examination malpractices.”
On the Free SHS Programme, the GCBC and the CCG commended the Government for making secondary education more accessible and affordable to Ghanaians through the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme.
According to them, they are aware that the implementation is facing some teething challenges, noting that there are incidents of some Senior High Schools in distress as a result of late disbursement of funds for food and accommodation facilities for the beneficiaries of the Programme.
They however urged the Ministry of Education to accept in good faith genuine feedback on the challenges facing the implementation and expressed readiness as stakeholders, for further engagement in the sustainability and success of the programme.
The Leaders also welcomed the Government’s efforts to improve the quality of teacher training in the country, which they indicated would convert Colleges of Education into Degree-awarding institutions as Affiliates/Satellite Campuses of some Public Universities for a transition period of four years.
“While we praise the Government for this reform, we wish to state that many of the Colleges of Education in Ghana are owned by the Churches. We repeat our earlier call for a comprehensive consultation and participation in the implementation of the new reforms cannot abandon Church-State partnership in education at this critical time,” they stressed.
They asked Government to continue to dialogue with the Churches that have Colleges of Education for mutual understanding on the affiliation of the Colleges to the Public Universities.
Government should facilitate and even expedite the process of approval for the Presidential Charter for Universities owned by the Churches to enable them have the capacity to take charge of and manage their Colleges of Education as affiliate institutions of such Universities, the Communique stated.