'STOP CONDEMNING HOMOSEXUALS. THEY DON'T DESERVE IT'- Catholic Bishops.

The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, CBCN,
has called on Nigerians, especially the media to
stop condemning gay people.
The bishops reiterated their earlier stand that
gays and lesbians did not deserve severe
punishment or jail term.
In an article titled, “Still on Same-Sex Union and
the Stand of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
Nigeria”, by the group’s director of social
communication, Chris Anyanwu, the CBCN
accused journalists of twisting the position of the
bishops.
“There is certainly an obsession by some
journalists about ‘severe punishment of gays or
lesbians’ and they try to twist the Bishops’
statements to articulate their views.
“Nigerian Catholic bishops are very responsible
pastors who do not seek the punishment or jailing
of persons who err, but to help them unto
salvation,” Mr. Anyanwu, a reverend father, said.
According to him, the tone of some news stories
attributed to the president of the CBCN, Ignatius
Kaigama, were far from those intended to achieve
the aim of his original message.
“In wrongly reading the letter of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in January
2015 to President Goodluck Jonathan, some
international organizations mischievously reduced
the CBCN position to advocating severe
punishment of gays or lesbians with long prison
terms,” wrote Mr. Anyanwu.
“What the CBCN supported, blessed and
commended in their letter of 21st January, 2015 to
former President Goodluck Jonathan was because
the Nigerian government upheld the dignity and
sanctity of marriage even in the face of all sorts of
pressure.
“When, therefore, the federal government resisted
the attempt to impose this culture on Nigerians by
legislating against ‘same-sex union’, the Catholic
Bishops of Nigeria felt a sense of great relief and
issued a statement to affirm government’s
decision,” he noted.
“The Archbishop Kaigama we know is a careful
and pastorally-minded prelate who would not
have used such words as: ‘shameful’, ‘barbaric’,
‘madness’, etc. to refer to anyone.
“Our stand was and is ‘no to same sex union’ and
‘no to spreading of the homosexual culture’ which
can only complicate our struggle to uphold
traditional/ religious/moral values in our country,”
he said.