UNITED KINGDOM
Ekklesia
Cardinal Peter Turkson may have badly damaged his prospects of becoming pope by suggesting that child sexual abuse is not a major problem in churches in Africa because homosexuality is looked on negatively. The remark is not only offensive but also reveals a dangerous ignorance that may undermine attempts to protect children.
Since Pope Benedict XVI, now frail and in poor health, announced his resignation, there has been much media speculation about who would become the next pope. Peter Turkson, who comes from Ghana, has been widely named as a possible candidate. But his remarks during an interview with Christiane Amanpour of CNN may have lessened his chances.
When she asked about the possibility of the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal spreading to Africa, he said it would unlikely to be in the same proportion as it has in Europe. “African traditional systems kind of protect or have protected its population against this tendency,” he claimed. “Because in several communities, in several cultures in Africa homosexuality or for that matter any affair between two sexes of the same kind are not countenanced in our society.”
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