Catholics in Ghana Protest against the Culture of Death in a Pro-Life March Spearheaded by Bishops

CANAA || By Damian Avevor, Ghana and Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla, Nairobi || 10 August 2015

Over one thousand Catholics, among them, the clergy, the religious, and the laity from various sectors of society last Saturday, August 8, hit the streets of Ghana’s capital, Accra, in a pro-life march organized by Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC).

The march was part of GCBC’s two-day Pro-Life Conference, from August 7 to 8, aimed at leading Ghanaians and Africans at large to a deeper reflection of the Gospel of Life and appreciation of the sanctity of life, purity of marriage and the dignity of human sexuality.

The Conference, whose theme was Protecting Life and Family Values in the Continuing Culture of Death, was inspired by what the Bishops in Ghana described as an “alarming rate of attacks on life and family values in Ghana and Africa.”

Participants held placards with messages advocating for the protection of human life from conception to natural death.

Some of the posters held read, “Every life is created in the image of God, protect it!”; “Abortion is a sin, stop it!”; “Life starts from the womb, protect it!”; “Sex is for married couples only”; “Protect the unborn child”; “Eternal values – life and faith”; “Abortion is evil, stop it!”; “Don’t kill our future generation”; “Not ready to be a mother? No sex”; “International organizations stop promoting abortion in Ghana”; “African governments stop promoting the culture of death.”

Topics discussed during the Conference included, “Building up a Culture of Life by scaling up pro-life activism” by Ms. Obianuju Ekeocha who is a founding member of Culture of Life Africa; “Natural Family Planning in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects” by Dame Mrs. Josephine VanLare; “Responsible Sexual behaviour in Ghana Today” by Father. Wajnorowski, SDB; “Socio-Cultural, Moral and Legal Aspects on Pro-Life” by Sir Justice Dennis Adjei and “The imposition of the Sexual revolution on Africa” by Mr. John Smeaton, CEO, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

In his intervention, Peter Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican, commended GCBC for taking the initiative to hold the Conference, lauded the discussions around the protection of life and the promotion of family values and condemned the increasing advocacy for the culture of death in Africa.

Addressing the Conference, GCBC Vice President, Bishop Anthony Adanuty decried the alarming rate of attacks on life and family values in Ghana and Africa, saying that Africa was becoming contraceptive at a dramatic pace and if nothing was done to halt this trend, the integral human development would suffer devastating jolt.

“Ghanaians and Africans must resist being like other nations by drawing lessons from the consequences of the moral state of the west. We in Ghana and Africa have a mission to promote life in the world and we cannot renege on this mission or reject God’s word,” Bishop Anthony said.

A Communiqué issued on August 8 declared that the family was a cradle where life is welcomed, nurtured and protected and pointed out that every family, with marriage at its core, must create a conducive environment where the inestimable value of life is emphasized and upheld.

The communiqué noted that sacramental marriage was instituted by God as a permanent and indissoluble union between one man and one woman; open to life and love, and therefore denouncing other forms of unions such as same-sex unions and adulterous unions, which “are inimical to the mind of the Creator – they undermine the integrity of the human being and the family.”

The Catholic Bishops in Ghana resolved to continue resisting “the persistent and pernicious attempts to impose population control on Africa by wealthy philanthropists, donor nations and international organizations who are pursuing this agenda subtly under the platform of sexual and reproductive and health rights.”

The Church leaders in Ghana also resolved to work with the government, other faith-based organizations and the civil society groups as well as the media to promote and sustain the importance of faith and family in human development, public education and in the social order.