The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, has clarified its stance on the issue of homiosexuality in the country.
In a statement issued earlier the the year, the Bishops were thought to have endorsed the 14-year jail term which was passed into law by the National Assembly and signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In a bid to clear the air, the CBCN, speaking through an article issued by its Director of Social Communication, Reverend Father Chris Anyanwu titled: “Still on Same-Sex Union and the Stand of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria” the group said Catholic Bishops do not seek severe punishment for homosexuals but help them to salvation.
The article read in part: “There is certainly an obsession by some journalists about ‘severe punishment of gays or lesbians’ and they try to twist the Bishops’ statements to articulate their views.
“Nigerian Catholic bishops are very responsible pastors who do not seek the punishment or jailing of persons who err, but to help them unto salvation.”
Anyanwu also said that the media misinterpreted the letter the CBCN wrote to Jonathan and skewed statements attributed to the CBCN President, Ignatius Kaigama.
He said: “What the CBCN supported, blessed and commended in their letter of 21st January, 2015 to former President Goodluck Jonathan was because the Nigerian government upheld the dignity and sanctity of marriage even in the face of all sorts of pressure.
“When therefore the federal government resisted the attempt to impose this culture on Nigerians by legislating against “same-sex union.”
“[The] Archbishop Kaigama we know is a careful and pastorally-minded prelate who would not have used such words as: “shameful”, “barbaric”, “madness”, etc. to refer to anyone.
“Our stand was and is ‘no to same sex union’ and ‘no to spreading of the homosexual culture’ which can only complicate our struggle to uphold traditional/ religious/moral values in our country.”
