Easter Present for the Gay African, the Gay Ugandan.
We Kuchus are like the very average African. We believe. Many of us are believers, in spite of being gay, gay in Africa.
It is the religious organisations, religious people in Africa who are predictably violently, openly homophobic in Africa. The impression left on the average African is that the kuchu is a manifestation of the most evil human being, a demon and Satan descended on earth; in our villages, our towns, our neighbourhoods. Scriptures are quoted: everyone seems to be an expert on what scriptures state on homosexuality, in Bible or Quran.
To learn that the Catholic Church actually doesn’t have [at the moment, far as I know] an officially hostile position towards LGBTQ human beings is surprising, to the average Ugandan, the average African.
To know that the current Pope,
Pope Francis has actually taken this to heart and embraced us, queer human
beings, is mind blowing.
Below is a list of statements from Pope Francis, Pontiff of the Catholic Church.
Statements that expose a genuine ‘love and compassion’ from my humble point of
view. They have been progressive, over the years, and cumulative. Apparently no
other pope has been this embracing of the gay human being; this assertive of
our right to life, freedom, dignity, as fellow human beings.
They are listed below, an Easter present to the Queer Catholic in Africa and in Uganda. To all kuchus in Africa. Some love to you, from an unexpected corner.
[Pic of Pope Francis]
Pope Francis’ famous 2013 declaration, “If a person with homosexual tendencies is a believer, seeks God, who am I to judge him?”
5th May 2022 Letter to ‘Outreach Faith’, Catholic Ministry to LGBTQ Catholics.
Outreach: What would you say is the most important thing for LGBT people to know about God?
Pope Francis: God is Father and he does not disown any of his children. And “the style” of God is “closeness, mercy and tenderness.” Along this path you will find God.
Outreach: What would you like LGBT people to know about the church?
Pope Francis: I would like for them to read the book of the Acts of the Apostles. There they will find the image of the living church.
Outreach: What do you say to an LGBT Catholic who has experienced rejection from the church?
Pope Francis: I would have them recognize it not as “the rejection of the church,” but instead of “people in the church.” The church is a mother and calls together all her children. Take for example the parable of those invited to the feast: “the just, the sinners, the rich and the poor, etc.” [Matthew 22:1-15; Luke 14:15-24]. A “selective” church, one of “pure blood,” is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect.
AP Interview, Another link to same interview.
First time a Pope has applied himself so to criminalisation of LGBTIQ
“Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church.”
““Being homosexual isn’t a crime,””
“acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against LGBTQ people” “ attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone. “These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he said, adding that they should apply “tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.””
“Declaring such laws “unjust,” Francis said the Catholic Church can and should work to put an end to them. “It must do this. It must do this,” he said.”
“Francis quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying gay people must be welcomed and respected, and should not be marginalized or discriminated against”
““We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity,””
“said there needed to be a distinction between a crime and a sin with regard to homosexuality. Church teaching holds that homosexual acts are sinful, or “intrinsically disordered,” but that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect.”
““It’s not a crime. Yes, but
it’s a sin. Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime.”
“It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another,””
Some 67 countries or jurisdictions worldwide criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity, 11 of which can or do impose the death penalty, according to The Human Dignity Trust, which works to end such laws. Experts say even where the laws are not enforced, they contribute to harassment, stigmatization and violence against LGBTQ people.
““It’s not a crime, it’s a human condition.””
Date Feb 5, 2023. Trip to Congo, South Sudan. [BBC Link]
“Pope Francis said that God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction”
“what the pope would say to families in Congo and South Sudan who reject their children because they are gay, Pope Francis responded that the catechism teaches that people with same-sex attraction should not be marginalized. “People with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God loves them. God accompanies them,”
““To condemn someone like this is a sin. Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice,””
“return flight from Brazil in 2013: “If a person with homosexual tendencies is a believer, seeks God, who am I to judge him? This is what I said on that trip.””
“in-flight press conference returning from Ireland in 2018 he said that parents should not kick out children with this orientation out of their homes.”
Anglican counterpart, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields,
Official Catholic Church position;
“According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, people with homosexual
tendencies should be treated with respect, and unjust discrimination against
them should be avoided, while “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered”
and “under no circumstances can they be approved.””
“Pope Francis repeated his view that the Catholic Church cannot permit sacramental marriage of same sex couples.”
“he supported so-called civil union legislation, and”
“stressed that laws banning homosexuality were "a problem that cannot be ignored".”
~~~
From Rome with Love, indeed.
Have a good Easter season.
gug
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