"We must not be swallowed up by the tyrannical imposition of some governments or international non-governmental organizations who wish to dictate the moral trend of the world based on their secular values" said His Exc. Mgr. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, in his address to declare open the Seminar/Workshop titled "The practice of health care and the social teachings of the Catholic Church" for Catholic Doctors and Nurses and other health workers, held at the Pastoral Centre, Jos, Plateau State.
Mgr. Kaigama often pointed out that criticism of the Catholic Church's position on issues related to the defense of life and sexual morality derived from prejudicial positions, the result of lack of knowledge of Catholic teachings.
"The Catholic Church is often judged by people who do not care to know what we really believe. Prejudices inherited from one generation to another have blinded critics of the Catholic Church so much that they cannot be objective about Catholic beliefs and traditions".
The Archbishop added that "In Africa, whether it is about population control, use of condoms, homosexuality, etc sometimes, the views of the West are forced down the throats of Africans through financial inducement. Africans must not be copy cats, believing that whatever comes from the West is ideal".
"Without cultural or intellectual discernment – added Mgr. Kaigama – we run the risk of losing our values and becoming neither Africans nor Westerners”.
“We must be faithful to our religious heritage even at a time when some of the people who introduced Christianity to us have become its ardent critics and some of them nurture a pathological hatred for Church directives or moral judgments", concluded the Archbishop of Jos.
And today we celebrate...