An African Jesuit Priest, Fr. Joseph Mben has said that African politicians use the criminalization of the LGBTQ to distract their followers from the real problems of the continent.

Fr. Joseph Loïc Mben, SJ, made his comments in an interview with La Croix International about Pope Francis’ repeated denouncement of anti-LGBTQ+ criminalization laws in late January and early February. Mben, a theologian at the Theological Institute of the Society of Jesus in Ivory Coast, said that while church teaching on homosexuality has not evolved under this pope, it is a “positive thing” that acceptance of gay people is expanding in the church.

Asked about bishops favoring criminalization in view of Francis’ remarks, Mben used the opportunity to critique leaders for neglecting real issues when they focus on anti-LGBTQ+ laws:

“Homosexuality is already criminalized in our African countries in one way or another. The proof is that homosexual marriage, for example, is not allowed and homosexual acts are criminally punished. ‘Criminalization’ adds nothing and is rather part of a political one-upmanship in which governments lacking inspiration in the face of the real problems of our societies seek outlets. We won’t solve the problems of poverty, corruption, nepotism, insecurity and the bad governance that plague our countries by imprisoning gays or lesbians.”

Mben also drew a distinction between questions of criminalization and marriage equality, which are sometimes conflated by LGBTQ-negative leaders to justify their positions:

“For the Church, marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Any other vision contradicts the divine plan that we find in the first two chapters of Genesis. In fact, decriminalization means that a person cannot be prosecuted for a homosexual orientation or acts. This means that, from a legal standpoint, homosexual acts are no longer illegal. But this does not automatically lead to the legal recognition of same-sex unions. The recent history of Western countries is instructive in this regard. Homosexuality was decriminalized in the 1970s, but it was not until the 1990s that same-sex couples were given legal status.”

I humbly beg to disagree. The LGBTQ agenda is a ploy by the liberal west to make mincemeat of the Sovereignty of hitherto African nations decades after the attainment of their supposed political independence. It is a neo-colonialist or imperialist tool as its opposition is greatly tied to the denial of foreign aid.

Also, the LGBTQ agenda greatly undermines the African culture which is deeply rooted in sturdy family values particularly at a time when the continent is the most youthful in the world in stark contrast to the ageing or declining population of the west which has necessitated all manner of attempts like the popular Canadian Express Entry to shore up its population. African leaders cannot afford to keep quiet in the face of the brutal assault of her rich cultural heritage by western liberals and their local black apologists. They owe it as a duty to the people they lead to speak out against it.

Agreed, Africa is mired in a plethora of challenges ranging from bad governance to massive youth unemployment, inflation, terrible healthcare, and poor quality of life which demand critical attention from her leaders. However, to criticize them for speaking up against the LGBTQ agenda under the guise of not tackling the aforementioned challenges is wrong and worse than a Freudian slip as the leaders in the world’s second most populous continent owe it as a responsibility to speak truth to the G7 nations and save the continent from physical, psychological and moral extinction.

Fr. Mben shouldn’t mislead the flock and should stop pandering to liberal interests who don’t have the interest of this great continent at heart.