Priest at Our Lady Queen of Africa (OLA) Parish in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, Emmanuel Azulira, has called on members of the Catholic Church and the general public to ignore news circulating suggesting the approval of same-sex blessings in the Catholic Church by Pope Francis.
Reports of Pope Francis formally granting Roman Catholic priests permission to bless same-sex couples a few weeks ago sparked varying opinions on social media.
However, during the Christmas Day service at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Kalbeo, Father Emmanuel Azulira stated that the news in circulation is not the true reflection of what Pope Francis said, hence the need for people to disregard the negative news purported by some news outlets.
According to Father Emmanuel, the purported news circulating only seeks to tarnish the image of the Catholic Church and could have future consequences for the oldest church in the Western world.
Father Emmanuel Azulira believes that the untruthful reportage attributed to the Pope is an attempt to reduce the population of Catholic Churches across the globe.
“There are attempts to reduce our numbers in the Catholic Church, and these are some of the ways, but it will never happen. I want to make it clear that Pope Francis never approved of man and man or woman and woman marriage. Never leave the Catholic Church and say because someone told you that the Catholic Church is now blessing man and man; Pope Francis never gave a direction like that anywhere. I pray that no one will leave the Catholic Church in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said.
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, in another interview on the issue, also clarified that Pope Francis had not directed or approved Catholic priests to bless marriages of gays and lesbians.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure|Kalbeo|
