The head priest of the Navrongo – Bolgatanga catholic Diocese, Most Rev Bishop Alfred Agyenta has kicked against the practice of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) in the Ghanaian society.
Speaking exclusively to Word news at a ceremony to induct newly ordained Reverent priests of the Catholic Church at the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Minor Basilica Navrongo, the Most Reverent Minister warned against the acceptance and practice of what many religious bodies described as an abdominal act.
For him, it is not just culturally unacceptable, but religious wise. “The church frowns on this kind of life and anybody who is a Christian knows the teaching of the church, and it is very clear that the church frowns on this kind of life. That is what the church has been teaching. Believers of God will surely not engage in such practices”.
He emphasized on the need to protect our values. “We need to protect ourselves, protect and preserve our tradition, our culture, our way of life and our morality, although we can’t prevent what is going on around the world through social media”. He appealed to the media to be circumspect in handling the issue saying that the dangers associated with the practice should be properly communicated to the masses.
He admonished the newly ordained priests to take up priesthood as a live-long time service. Rev. Agyenta tasked them to prioritize issues of the destitute in their activism, for that has been the message of Jesus Christ. “Priesthood is not a part-time job. It’s a life-time job. You have to be at the service of the people.”
Rev. Agyenta reminded the two freshly inducted priests; Rev Fr. Edward Amadi Abugri and Rev Fr. Jacob Yenbehit to be men of God. “If you are not a man of God, that means getting close to God in prayer and listening to the word of God, then you cannot serve anybody, so the message to them is that you cannot give to others what you do not have and you can only get what you need to give others when you get it from the source and the source is God Himself. The source is Christ Himself.” He enjoined them to emulate the culture of prayers and listening so as to serve the congregants.
He called on the congregants to support the newly inducted Reverent ministers. “support them both spiritually and physically because they have been ordained for the people throughout their lifetime, the priest does not have any other job aside ministering to the people, so whatever support they need, the community and people need to support them because they will travel to other places to gain more knowledge, so definitely they will need their support. Priesthood is very important in the growth of the church. That is why it took them nine years to be trained as priests. Anybody who wants the quick process shouldn’t venture”. He disclosed that “Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Minor Basilica Navrongo has about 30 young men who in the major seminary.”
Gaspard Ayuureneeya