It said homosexuals must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity.

The conference made several references to the Bible which condemned the practice of homosexuality and said it stood by the teachings of the Bible.  

“For the church to choose someone of the same sex for one’s sexual activity or for marriage is to annul the rich symbolism and meaning, not to mention the goals of God’s sexual design,” it said.

These were contained in a communique dated December 11, 2023, and signed by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi. It was on the theme, “The Catholic Church and the State on Homosexuality”.

The conference reiterated that the teachings of the Catholic Church made a distinction between “the homosexual condition or tendency” and “individual homosexual actions”.

It said the church taught its members that the intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law.

It added that according to Pope Francis, the homosexual person needed to be “respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, and ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression or violence.”

“For this reason, it is not right to inflict physical or other types of violence on homosexuals just because they are homosexuals.

 Their being homosexuals does not mean that they should be treated like criminals.

“The church insists that homosexuals, also created in the image of God, must enjoy the fundamental human rights that all human beings enjoy,” it said.

Nevertheless, it said the church’s understanding of human rights was that the rights of homosexuals as persons did not include the right of a man to marry a man or of a woman to marry a woman.

The communique said it was morally wrong and went against God’s purpose for marriage.

“The long-held teaching of the Roman Catholic Church has been that while homosexual people are to be loved and respected and not be discriminated against, homosexual acts are intrinsically immoral and must be condemned.

“It is for this reason that the church does not approve of “unions between people of the same sex”.

“However, following the example of Jesus himself who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (cf. Luke 5:32 [NRSV]), the church in its pastoral care is solicitous about the salvation of all God’s children and endeavours to show them God’s love and mercy,” it said.

Criminalised

The communique further said homosexuals must therefore not be criminalised, maltreated or attacked for being homosexuals as it was neither a sin nor a crime, but rather the acts they performed were sinful and should be condemned.

“Thus, we can say that while it is not right to criminalise homosexuals just for being homosexuals, the State is within its right to criminalise the acts of homosexuals in the interest of the nation.

“In this connection, we can state that the draft bill on “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values 2021” currently in Parliament is in the right direction, as it seeks to enact laws against criminal homosexual acts.”

It said the bill aimed to provide for proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values, proscribe LGBTQ+ and related activities, and provide for the protection of children, persons who were victims or accused of LGBTTQQIAAP+ and related activities, and other persons.

“We commend our lawmakers for the effort and time spent on this bill.

It is our hope that, when passed into law, it will indeed promote proper human sexual rights and authentic Ghanaian family values which are under threat from homosexual acts.

“It is also the hope of the church that the bill will impose punitive measures that are commensurate with the crimes committed,” it stated.