Faith Nyasuguta
A prominent Ghanaian cardinal, Peter Turkson (pictured), has voiced opposition to criminalizing homosexuality, stating that it should not be deemed a criminal offense, and instead, efforts should focus on educating people about the issue.
This perspective contrasts with the stance of Roman Catholic bishops in Ghana who consider homosexuality “despicable.” The cardinal’s remarks come amid parliamentary discussions on a bill in Ghana proposing severe penalties for LGBT individuals.
While Pope Francis recently hinted at a potential willingness to bless same-sex couples, he maintained the Catholic Church’s view that same-sex relationships are “objectively sinful,” and it does not recognize same-sex marriage.
In July, Ghanaian lawmakers supported a bill, still in parliamentary proceedings, that proposes a three-year prison sentence for identifying as LGBT, with up to 10 years’ imprisonment for those advocating LGBT rights. Homosexual acts already face a three-year prison term in Ghana.
The Ghanaian bishops, aligning with leading Christian groups, emphasized in August that Western countries should refrain from imposing foreign cultural values on the nation.
Cardinal Turkson, a potential future pope, highlighted on the BBC’s HARDtalk program that “LGBT people may not be criminalized 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,” he went on to say.
Cardinal Turkson pointed to linguistic expressions in Ghana, like the Akan phrase referring to men and women behaving differently, suggesting that homosexuality is not entirely foreign to Ghanaian society.
However, he acknowledged external pressures, attributing the push for strict anti-gay measures in some African countries to attempts linking foreign donations to specific positions.
The cardinal cautioned against imposing such positions on cultures not prepared to accept them. Uganda’s recent approval of a law proposing life imprisonment for homosexuality and the death penalty for aggravated cases prompted global backlash.
The World Bank suspended new loans to Uganda in response, and the US announced the removal of the country from a preferential trading arrangement due to “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
He emphasized the importance of education and cultural sensitivity in addressing the complexities surrounding homosexuality, signaling a more nuanced perspective within the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Turkson became the first-ever Ghanaian cardinal in 2003 when he was appointed by Pope John Paul II. He is now chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences.
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