“Whether you become a Muslim or a traditional worshiper or a Pentecostal, you will still find problems there. That means you will keep running to look for solutions where solutions do not exist,” the Local Ordinary of Abuja said, adding, “Why not stay in one place, understand the issue and let’s work out a better solution together.”
Archbishop Kaigama faulted reactions indicating that the Catholic Church is falling apart, saying that the Church “has survived” many challenges “over two thousand years” and that “there is no group or company that has survived that long … the Catholic Church remained together.”
“The person of the Pope unites us together and we are one big universal family and we are the only ones that propose what is wrong; when you say war, we say that is wrong, when you say abortion, we say it is killing of human beings and that is wrong, when you say homosexuality, we say that it is animalistic and it’s not normal. They know we stand for these truths, so they are ready to pull us down in many ways,” he said.
The Nigerian Catholic Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in April 1995 as Bishop of Nigeria’s Jalingo Diocese went on to faulted a section of the international media for making attempts “to twist” the DDF Declaration.
“All the major international news channels are eager to hear that the church now allow for same-sex marriage, so they were able to twist the document Fiducia Supplicans to suit what they wanted and planting in you the doubt that are not supposed to be,” he told ACI Africa during the January 30 interview.
The Local Ordinary of Abuja Archdiocese since his installation in December 2019 further said, “We the Bishops are your representative when it comes to the matter of faith. We know what has been said, and we know the language of the church.”
“Marriage is between a man and a woman; it is also the same with our African culture and no one can change it,” Archbishop Kaigama emphasized, and added, “Any other information you get from the western media about same sex union in the Catholic Church is not true and no western influence can change the African concept of marriage no matter how hard they try.”
The Catholic Church leader advocated for “blessings” in the context of conversion, saying, “If people come to you and say we are in this condition but we want to change, all you need to do is to help them.”
He added, “Every time I visit the prison I meet a lot of people in confinement; some of them are murderers, some are prostitutes but I still bless them and because they have repented and gone for confession I give them holy communion.”
He underscored the need for Catholics to have firm faith, “which is your identity. Even when there are challenges do not think of leaving the Church, remain a Catholic till you die.”
