It would be highly unlikely to find a Roman Catholic Cardinal who would support Uganda's death penalty for homosexual acts. I'd almost say that to suggest such a thing is ludicrous. As McGrath says above, the death penalty itself is contrary to Catholic teaching. And while Catholic teaching does not approve of homosexual acts, there are official Catholic documents that denounce discrimination or intolerance against homosexuals - and Cardinals almost always uphold such documents. I'm sure, however, you could find a Reuters reporter who could twist a cardinal's words to make it sound that the cardinal approves of the Ugandan law. Reuters seems to make a hobby of that.

Seems like Huffington Post does the same, saying in a photo caption, "Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana has defended anti-gay legislation, like Uganda's 'Kill the Gays' bill." The text of the article says only that Turkson said it is understandable "why some African governments have created legislation against homosexuality." That's a far cry from giving approval to the death penalty for homosexual acts in Uganda.

It is true that many African cultures have strong taboos against homosexuals. A couple of years ago, I had a discussion of homosexual marriage with a friend of mine, who is a fairly young Catholic priest from Rwanda. He was quite surprised that I could say that I thought that homosexual marriage should be legal here in California - it was like he was stunned at what I said, but he accepted it [without agreeing] because he respected me (he respects everybody). He could not imagine that homosexual marriage could be a good thing, and he said that there are deep cultural prohibitions against homosexuality in most parts of Africa. I got the impression that this is not a Christian thing, that it goes back long before the advent of Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa. My friend is humble and loving, with a wonderful laugh and a great sense of humor, and a deep but simple spirituality. I can't imagine him hating or even disliking anyone. But for some reason, homosexuality is abhorrent to him - although he has learned to get along with homosexuals here in California. I've known him for over five years, since just after his arrival in the U.S. It has been interesting to watch him struggle to accept the extravagances of American culture. And I admit that I have forced him to struggle by challenging him with ideas that make him uncomfortable. I tend to do that to young priests. I think somebody has to force them to grow up.

So, is my friend therefore disqualified from leadership in the Catholic Church?

Large segments of the population in Europe and North America are very tolerant of homosexuality, but I gather that's not the case in many parts of the Third World.

-Joe-