Cameroon Archbishop Issues Inflammatory Anti-Gay Statement

 

Archbishop Simon-Victor Tonye Bakot

The Catholic archbishop of Yaounde, Cameroon, has made anti-gay statements just the week before the African nation stages a national anti-gay rallying day.

Gay Star News reports that Archbishop Simon-Victor Tonye Bakot made his comments last week:

“The Catholic Archbishop of Yaoundé stated last weekthat he believes homosexuality is opposed to the ideal of human reproduction and is a danger to the family unit, ‘an affront to the family, enemy of women and creation.’

“He argued that the Catholic Church preaches the virtues of tolerance towards gay people, paedophiles, bestiality and other perversions, which he lumps together.

“But he says: ‘This does not mean that Catholic morality endorse homosexual behaviour and the life style that it inspires.’

“For him homosexuality is ‘shameful, a disrespectful criticism of God who has chosen to create man and woman’.

The original French-language news report upon which the Gay Star News account is based can be accessed here.

The archbishop’s comments come as the nation anticipates a national rally in Cameroon designed to promote anti-gay sentiment on August 21st.  A separate Gay Star News story describes the event:

“The Rassemblement de la Jeunesse Camerounaise association (Cameroonian Youth Rally, or RJC) announced that it will ‘celebrate’ a gay hate day. . .

“The association doesn’t want to hear about gay pride, instead it announced on Thursday (12 July) that 21 August will be ‘celebrated’ as the national anti-gay day of Cameroon. . .

The existence and combat of the alleged ‘gay mafia’ is one of the principal concerns of the RJC which proudly announces its homophobia publicly.

“The association promises that 21 August, will be celebrated yearly, stating it aims to glorify homophobia with a parade to take place through the Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital city.

“During a recent televised debate, Sismondi Barlev Bidjocka, spokesperson for the RJC, stated that ‘homosexuality is a crime against humanity.’

“There are no official association to help LGBT people in Cameroon, which has one of Africa’s most severe anti-gay laws.”

Vatican officials are quick to correct bishops and other church leaders when they present a “too liberal” view of church teaching on homosexuality.  The pope should at least be equally strict in correcting this archbishop, whose rhetoric distorts church teaching and has the potential for promoting violence in such an inflammatory situation.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

5 replies
  1. Brother Benilde Montgomery, O.S.F.
    Brother Benilde Montgomery, O.S.F. says:

    The pope is more likely to read a book than to take a position to speak in anyone’s defense. He’s big into metaphysics and not experience. Do you think Bacot got his hat because he was Mr. Nice Guy? Social climbing and the adoration of power are prominent characteristics of our bishops. Read how their predecessors get described in Mark’s gospel.
    Let me say to Conde, too. Don’t confuse the Institution with the People of God! Stay with us and fight!

    Reply
  2. celticbishop
    celticbishop says:

    Ever thought of the absolute hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic hierarchy that is so rabidly dedicated to defeating the right of people who love each other to marry whilst at the same time fighting with equal vigor against being forced by the courts into spending billions on pay outs to victims of sexual abuse,maybe they have the same idea as the Republicans and think there is “legitimate rape”!

    Reply
  3. victimsofrapebythercc
    victimsofrapebythercc says:

    As a survivor of priest rape and one who came out of the priest abuse closet a little over a year ago, after suffering decades of horrible nightmares of burning in hell being gang raped by demons, of depression, suicide attempts, alcoholism and drug addiction, and all kinds of other horrors I am so disgusted with the Roman Catholic Church and this supposed “man of god” who believes that homosexuality is a serious crime against humanity. No sir, the serious crime against humanity is the tens of thousands of us who were raped as children, carried unjust burdens of pain and misery, some of us who are no longer here because their unjust burden became too much for them to bear and blew their heads off.

    The Crimes against Humanity by the Roman Catholic Church is not only the rape of children, the castration of children they raped because they said the children seduced their priests so to stop seducing them they should be castrated, the cover up of all of this by such people as Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinals Timothy Dolan, Michael Leveda, Bernard Law, Bishop Lynn and of course their cheering pit bull Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League who defames and disgusts us victims by calling us all liars, gold diggers out looking for a pay day from the church and his constant attacks against SNAP: Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests because he says they are a menace to the RCC.

    We the victims will remain silent no more, we will NOT allow this church of Pedophile Pimps and rapist of children to defame us, to harm us more or to try to put forth this evil agenda against the gays and lesbians. I will speak out loud and clear, every chance I get, to tell my story of horror at what happened to me. I will tell the Pope, the Cardinals and the Bishops who covered this up and the priests who raped us it is they who will be burning in hell. I am not afraid of them any longer. I have taken my power back from these evil people and I will make damn sure, to the best of my ability, that some how, some way they will face justice in the courts so we victims may receive our lives back from which they stole from us at such a young age.

    Reply

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