ABIJA, Nigeria -- Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Jos and President of the
Nigerian Bishops' Conference responded to the European criticism of Nigeria and
defended the support for the new federal law against "gay
marriage." Last January, the
Bishops thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for the new law for the protection
of marriage and against “gay marriage". Since then, the Church of Nigeria
has been in the crossfire of criticism. And for many a western Church leader,
it is embarrassing to have to defend it.
Values of the Bible Can Never be
Discrimination
Archbishop Kaigama stressed that the position of the Church in Nigeria
corresponds exactly to the teaching of the Catholic Church. He said, "We defend the moral values
of the Bible, the tradition of the Nigerian people." "The defense of the moral value of the
Bible can never be discrimination," said the chairman of the Bishops'
Conference of the most populous African country.
The archbishop also criticized the one-sidedness of the West,
"though always with you when it comes to the so-called gay rights in
Nigeria you run, but to the ongoing terror attacks by the Islamic militia Boko
Haram you only stammer”. He went on to say that "Constantly new violence,
burned and mutilated bodies, women and children who are killed in a terrible
rhythm: this is the emergency afflicting our country, but nothing from Europe
on this. But for “gay rights” the EU, the European Parliament and other
international institutions will mobilize.”
"Even women Who Cannot
Read, Use the Morning after Pill from the West"
"In all the villages of Nigeria, there are women who have no
education and girls who do not attend school. They cannot read or write, but
they have the morning after pill. When they are questioned, they know which
pill they have when to take abort. How can that be? Who tells them that and
gives them the morning after pill, pushing it into her hand? It is the western
governmental and non-governmental organizations that impose their ideas on us.
And these 'values' mean birth control. This is worth much money and effort from
the West. And why do they do that? To ensure that our government gets
international economic aid, they must accept this Western policy. But that is
called coercion. A culture and a mentality are imposed that is not ours, for us
Nigerians not despise life." They attempt this by way of an ideological
indoctrination but specifically from the outside to manipulate the minds of the
people in Nigeria.
"We won’t give in to the West
just because it has Money to Blackmail Us"
To the law against "gay marriage" said Archbishop Kaigama:
"We say very clearly: We don't hate anybody. We respect homosexuals as
people, and we support them when their rights are violated as human beings. The
Church has there then and defends them. But we also say quite clearly that
homosexual acts are contrary to nature. They flatly contradict what we defend.
Powerful organizations who blackmail our government would like us to legalize
gay marriage. And when they say that
there are occasional homosexual tendencies in Africa, we say quite clearly that
they are aberrations. We respect the dignity of marriage between a man and a
woman. We will not give in to the West, just because it has money with which it
can put pressure on us,” said Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Tempi
Translation edited: by Vox Cantoris
