Kampala, 31 March, 2023 / 9:18 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in Uganda are waiting for the details of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB) that members of Parliament (MPs) recently passed to be able to give the position of the Church in the East African nation, the Local Ordinary of Uganda’s Kampala Archdiocese has said.
On March 21, the Parliament in Uganda passed a new bill that seeks to crackdown on activities of homosexuality. In the bill, persons who identify as homosexual risk life imprisonment, and in certain cases, death penalty.
While engaging in homosexual acts is illegal in Uganda, the new bill that is awaiting President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s signature to become law introduces additional criminal offences; BBC News has described the new bill as “one of the toughest pieces of anti-gay legislation in Africa.”
Speaking during the March 29 event that Kampala Archdiocese organized to celebrate Pope Francis’ decade of service at the helm of the Catholic Church, Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere said that members of the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) are to convene and “discuss that bill”.
“Regarding what has come out of Parliament, once we have the entire Bill, as Fathers of the Catholic Church we will come together to discuss that Bill and give the position of the Catholic Church in Uganda,” Archbishop Ssemogerere said.
