Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson says it’s ‘unfair’ for anyone to impose the legalisation of LGBTQIA+ in any country.
He was emphatic that the practice should not be an imposition; he also said criminalising it is equally insensitive.
“My position has simply been this: that LGBT and gay people may not be criminalised because they’ve committed no crime."
“Neither should these positions be imposed on cultures that are not ready for that," the most respected Cardinal from Ghana said in an interview with the BBC’s Talk Hard, monitored by Peacefmonline.
Read below BBC’s Stephen Sackur and Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson interview on LGBTQIA+
Stephen Sackur: “Let’s start with something which is very current: the discussion in the church on key issues of sexuality and gender."
“Now I refer the beginning of this interview to Pope Francis and the hopes that have been vested in him to show leadership. I will put it to you that on some of these key issues, for example, the church's attitude to homosexuality, for example, the possibility of giving blessings to gay marriages in church, and the attitude toward the LGBTQ community generally, Pope Francis has sent a confusion, not a clear, message.
Cardinal Turkson: “No, but lately, about a week or so ago, he came out with a small document just saying clearly what his position on all of these are, that LGBT people can be blessed, they can be admitted to the church, and all of that, they can even become godparents of children and people who are being baptized, and all of that. So he [Pope] himself has signalled, partly stuff that used to be left neck below, undecided and all that and come clearly with these...
Stephen Sackur: “So you see him [Pope] as now following a policy which many people regard as, within the Catholic perspective, liberal? doesn’t that put you [Turkson] personally in a very difficult position? Because your own position, for example, on homosexuality seems quite clear, I have looked at your record over many years, and you have been a consistent conservative on these issues."
Cardinal Turkson: “Those are the expressions again: conservative, progressive, you know, my thing has been this, and I’ll refer you to an interesting episode, a situation I got into responding to an invitation to go speak in Slovenia at one point, and then the Bishops were wondering whether to allow it because there was a lot of media agitation.
“My position has simply been this: that LGBT and gay people may not be criminalised because they’ve committed no crime, but neither should this position become something to be imposed on cultures which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that.
Stephen Sackur: “You are Ghanaian, this summer, the Ghanaian Parliament passed it is called the Appropriate sexual rights and family values at which a tougher regime for gay people clearly criminalises homosexuality in Ghana, up to 10 years in prison for LGBT... The Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference said that western countries must stop in certain attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us. Are you backing that statement and therefore defending the criminalization of homosexuality?
Cardinal Turkson: “What I just said to you is, my position is contrary to what has just been passed: to criminalize anybody, if you are able to identify the crime, LGBT cases are not to be criminalised but neither, and this, I think, is basically what caused all of this in Ghana. The Ghanaian culture has known of people with some such tendencies, and I say this because there is an expression in the local Akan language of men who act like women, and women who act like men, there is an expression for them [Kojo Besia], which means that this phenomenon is known in the culture in the community and all of that.
“But nobody went around to make any policy out of that; now I think what caused all of these was our attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions, which needed to be imposed in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights and all that. I think that is what led to this thing going to Parliament.”
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana
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I beg to difer with Peter Cardinal Turkson. LGBTQ is a crime. Even before the new legislation it was crime. What is a crime. A crime is what the state or republic says is a crime. So if it is not a crime in Europe here in Ghana we say it is crime. I wonder why of all the topics Cardinal of the Catholic Church which promotes best family life and practices will choose to write and defend LGBTQ.
Ghanaians are among some of the most hypocritical and ***barred word*** people you can find! Whilst their MPs in public are shouting " yempini yempini" their political careers have been supported by LGBTQ+ financiers. In fact some of these MPs are gay/lesbians who just cannot come out . The real criminals are the politicians stealing our resources and signing very bad deals which deprive us of development. Look at the destruction galamsay is doing to our environment and water bodies and Ghanaians are quiet about it. We are a country of very tsupid people and that is why we have the type of political leadership currently destroying our country. The issues worth talking about and taking actions on we won't. All we do is engage in frivolities and always looking for quick ways to make money. We must get serious about the governance of our country and demand accountability from the political dealers ***barred word*** our resources. They have just brought this LGBTQ + as a red herring to divert our attention from the massive coruption going on in the country which needs all of our attention to address. It is corruption that destroys a country, not LGBTQ+! Let us be reasonable instead of emotional and fanatical.
TOTAL BRAINWASHED . 1. IS POLYGAMY A CRIME IN AN ANCIENT TIMES? CAPITAL YES. 2. IS POLYGAMY A CRIME IN EUROPE AND AMERICA? CAPITAL YES. 3. IS POLYGAMY A CRIME IN GHANA AND MOST PART OF AFRICA? THE ANSWER IS CAPITAL NO. CARDINAL I WILL ONLY ACCEPT YOUR POINT IF YOU CAN OPENLY CONVINCE YOUR PAYMASTER TO DECRIMINALISED POLYGAMY IN WESTERN COUNTRIES. WHY ON EARTH WILL ONE CRIMINALISED POLYGAMY AND DECRIMINALISED GAY. I CAN'T THINK FAR. EITHER THE CARDINAL MAY BE FROM POLYGAMOUS HOME OR HIS GRANDPARENTS WAS FROM POLYGAMOUSE HOME BUT IF HIS FATHER WAS A GAY, HE MAY NOT SURFACED ON THIS EARTH AS GOD'S CREATION. EVEN DOGS DIFFERENTIATE MALE AND FEMALE MOST GREAT MEN IN THE BIBLE WERE PRODUCTS OF POLYGAMOUSE HOME EG ISAAC, JOSEPH , SOLOMON ECT. RETURN THE CASH TO YOUR PAYMASTERS.
Please allow me to make a point of correction on your writings and publications about "Cardinal Turkson been regarded as a future candidate to become Pope" This is very wrong. Cardinal Turkson has not been regarded or tipped as a future candidate to become Pope. The fact that he is within the senate of the Pope does not qualified him to be a candidate for the Papacy. Go back to his Archdiocese of Cape Coast where he was for some years shepered of the diocesel and how he was very power drunk and harsh to his priest. He was more of a dictatorial archbisop and abused his ecclaesiastical position as an Archbisop at that time. This Cardinal Turkson did not have a good relationship with many of his priests and that polarised his diocese at that time of his administration. Now to the topic of LGBT which has become a very hot issue with the debate from the house of Parliament. I am appealing to the minister of tourisim to check on many activities of homosexuality and lesbianism in many of Ghanas hotels and Guesthouses. Most of the weekends, hotels Guesthouses in Ghana have "love pool parade" where many young girls and boys are engaged in lesbian and homosexaul activities. One of the Gusthouse that lesbian and homosexual activities is going during the weekend love pooling" is "Duffy Guesthouse situated at Denase, Kodie, Kumasi. This particular hotel is been noted for the promotion of ghanaian lesbian and homosexaul activities. This type of LGBT activities is not imported from the western world or the blame of globalisation. Many hotels and guest houses are making financial bussines and exorting huge amount of money from the youth for the weekend homosexual activities. Thank You