Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, favorite to become the first black Pope, connects homosexuality to sex scandals
Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson is considered by many to be the favorite to succeed Pope Benedict XVI and would become the first black Pope.
During an interview with CNN, Turkson discussed the spread of Catholicism into Africa and hopes we will see a Pope from this region.
“It is certainly possible to have a Cardinal come from the Southern part of the globe,” Turkson told CNN’s Christaine Amanpour on Tuesday, citing the long history of the Church in Latin America and Cardinals from Africa and Asia now taking important leadership positions. “So the possibility that a candidate, or that any of the Cardinals, to be elected Pope can come from the southern part of the globe is very real.”
When Amanpour asked Turkson about the possibility of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal spreading to Africa, he said it would unlikely be in the same proportion as it has in Europe.
“African traditional systems kind of protect or have protected its population against this tendency,” he said. “Because in several communities, in several cultures in Africa homosexuality or for that matter any affair between two sexes of the same kind are not countenanced in our society.”
CNN was quick to point out in their post interview to point to a study to refute the Cardinal’s claims.
“According to the American Psychological Association, ‘homosexual men are not more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual men are.'”
Ruth Hunt, the director of public affairs at Stonewall UK, a LGBT charity, condemned Turkson’s statement. “Cardinal Turkson’s comments show a surprisingly callous disregard for the human rights of millions of people worldwide,” she told the Times UK.
””New Study Shows Grim Reality For Gay Men And HIV/AIDS In Africa”” by L.K.Regan
”’Both research and press coverage of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa have overwhelmingly focused on hetersexual transmissions. In effect,this focus ”’replicates the prejudice that keeps gay men out of sight in African life in general. This month, the respected medical journal ”’THE LANCET”’takes on this gap in public and scientific awareness with a report on gay men and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Their review of the current state of affairs makes for grim reading.
Findings are ”Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM)continue to bear a high burden of HIV infection. In sub-Saharan Africa, same-sex behaviors have been largely neglected by HIV research up until now. There is however, some recent research on gay men in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Lancet study is a comprehensive review of the results of that research, seeking to reach some basic conclusions. Here is what they found.
OVERALL, HIV rates among ”men who have sex with men (MSM)” in sub-Saharan Africa are 10 TIMES HIGHER than within the male population in general.
(this article is EXCELLENT and it further explains the reality of African’s hostility towards gay populations, making the seriousness of HIV ten times higher . Please feel free to read this article. It should this prevalent reality in Africa.)
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