South African Catholic newspaper condemns anti-homosexual laws
January 29, 2014
A Catholic newspaper in South Africa has published an editorial condemning “draconian legislation” against homosexuals in some African countries, the Fides news service reports.
The Southern Cross, a weekly promoted by the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (which includes the bishops of South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland), said that new legislation in Nigeria and Uganda, and similar proposals in Cameroon and Tanzania, would be used to “persecute people on the basis of their sexual orientation.”
The editorial noted that the laws were not required to outlaw homosexual acts, which are already illegal in most African countries. The Southern Cross argued that the legislation therefore violated the injunction of the Catechism of the Catholic Church against “every sign of unjust discrimination” against homosexuals. The editorial called upon the bishops of Africa to fight “against discriminatory laws and violence against homosexuals, many of whom are Catholics.”
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Jan. 29, 2014 8:39 PM ET USA
On discrimination: "'Sexual orientation' does not constitute a quality comparable to race, ethnic background, etc. in respect to non-discrimination. Unlike these, homosexual orientation is an objective disorder...and evokes moral concern. There are areas in which it is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account, for example, in the placement of children for adoption or foster care, in employment of teachers or athletic coaches, and in military recruitment." CDF 22July1992
