Africa: Gender Theory's Dangers Exposed

Expert Says Ideology Is Infiltrating Church in Africa

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A priest who is also a psychiatrist and an expert on social psychology is warning that the gender theory ideologies are infiltrating Christian institutions in Africa.

Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a consultor of the Pontifical Council for the Family and of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, told ZENIT that "thanks to the action of certain Christian institutions, the gender theory is being imposed progressively in society and in the Church" in Africa.

He asserted that "Africans do not want to be colonized by Western ideologies," and he deplored the fact that "topics of the gender theory continue to spread widely in the Church."

Archbishop Robert Sarah, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, affirmed this last week in an address to the Fifth General Congregation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.

He called gender theory a "Western socializing ideology in relations between men and women."

"It is contrary to African culture and to the human truths illuminated by the divine Revelation in Jesus Christ," the prelate said.

He explained: "The idea of gender separates the biological sex of masculine or feminine identity in stating that it is not intrinsic to the person but is a social construct.

"This identity could -- and must -- be torn down to allow woman to reach an equality of social power with man and for the individual to 'choose' their sexual orientation. Man-woman relations would be governed by a struggle over power."

Lethal

The archbishop warned that this "unrealistic and disincarnate ideology" denies God's plan, and upholds the "right to choose" as its supreme value, making homosexuality a "culturally acceptable choice."

This ideology, he continued, "puts pressure on the legislator to write laws favorable to universal access to information and contraceptive and abortion services -- 'reproductive health' -- as well as homosexuality."

Archbishop Sarah called this ideology "lethal" and warned that it "creates serious injustices and compromises peace."

In this sense, Monsignor Anatrella explained that in Africa "the cultivation of the sense of the family is very important and to give life to many children is inherent to the culture of this continent."

He continued: "Children are the wealth of the family and of society, but the experts of this theory claim, with Western prejudices, that three children per woman is already a very high figure that must be reduced."

"What the Africans say is that the child is the future of man," the priest pointed out.

Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, also lamented in the Synod the spread of the gender theory in Africa.

Last week he reported that this is happening through Christian institutions that are aligned with other international groups and agencies, such as the United Nations, UNICEF, UNESCO, and several non-governmental organizations.

Pressure

Monsignor Anatrella stated that "in Africa, activists are carrying out these actions apart from the democratically elected representatives in national parliaments."

He added that the ideology is also spreading through formation sessions for priests, men and women religious and Christian laypeople.

In order "to receive international aid -- in the financial, health and educational realms -- most African countries are subjected, through different associations, to the gender lecture," the priest reported.

He stated that the effort of these activists, "for example, for health and the medical care of women," is translated only in terms of "reproductive health."

This notion of "reproductive health," Monsignor Anatrella stated, "is very problematic because it trivializes contraception and abortion and questions family values, excluding men from relations of cooperation with women and of procreation."

He stated that "African countries are also under pressure from Western countries that, in the name of equality of sexual orientations, try to present homosexuality as a model that can be realized in a couple and in marriage."

The priest continued: "For the time being, the majority of deputies are opposed to the views of a couple, family and procreation that do not correspond to African values. Unfortunately, these sorts of ideas and behavior continue to spread in Africa."

However, he affirmed that many African Christian communities are "more decisive and reactive" to these issues than others.

Archbishop Philippe Ouedraogo of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, affirmed this in his synodal intervention: "In general, our human and religious communities in Africa reject the codified juridical practice of many Western countries; they value the promotion of values related to the family and life."

http://www.zenit.org/article-27213?l=english

Authors Say Pope Is Right About Condom and AIDS

Write Book to Set Record Straight

ROME, OCT. 9, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI caused a media storm on his way to Africa in March by saying that condoms are not the solution to AIDS. An African cardinal, the relator-general of the synod of bishops on Africa that is under way, brought the same storm a few days ago, reiterating the same point.

In the context of this turmoil, ZENIT spoke with Doctor Renzo Puccetti and Cesare Cavoni, a bioethics professor, who are in the process of publishing their book "Il Papa ha ragione! L'Aids non si ferma con il condom" (The Pope Is Right: AIDS Is Not Stopped With Condoms).

Puccetti contended that the accounts of Cardinal Peter Turkson's statements can be classified as "the umpteenth case of distortion of the message."

"In the first place, the cardinal did not make a moral evaluation of the issue; at the same time, in his statements, he said nothing against the constant moral teaching of the Church," the doctor affirmed.

He added, "When the president of Uganda gave a green light to the ABC -- Abstinence, Be Faithful, Condom -- strategy, which was very effective in combating the AIDS epidemic and was later taken as a model with the same success in other African countries, he said rather similar things to what the cardinal said: Life cannot be put at stake entrusting it to a fine coat of latex."

Yes or no

Puccetti acknowledged that it is not easy to give a categorical answer to the question of whether the condom serves to stop AIDS.

"It isn't easy to answer categorically," he said, "but if I must say that the condom serves to halt AIDS in generalized epidemics, the answer I can give according to the body of available scientific knowledge is 'no.'"

For the condom to work, the doctor continued, "man would have to be not much different than a rat in a cage in which, before each copulation, someone dons the condom. In that case, the condom might be useful."

"But as man is not a rat, does not live in cages and there are no professionals ready to burden him with the condom, one must not be surprised then that the theoretical efficacy does not occur on the spot in real life," Puccetti added.

Trampling principles

The authors explained their book stems from a "sad verification" that the media often "deforms" the facts.

"The book stems from this sadness and, also, from the anger of seeing fundamental principles of correct information trampled," Cavoni said. "At the same time we felt it an imperative to give the public the facts as they occurred and, in some way, open the eyes of public opinion, so that it does not take as fine gold clumsy instrumentalizations, perpetrated by ideological motives, superficiality, or both factors."

"The reading of the book makes extremely evident the progressive distortion of the message, including additions, omissions, substitutions," Puccetti added. "[...] In the second part of the book, we summarized as best we could the gamut of knowledge offered by the international scientific literature in regard to the clinical application of prevention through promoting the use of the condom.

"We have paid special attention to the numbers, because we believe they can be the basis for a shared discussion outside the religious orientation."

Ears to hear

Cavoni contended that the media uproar in March can be attributed to false information.

"All the major national and international newspapers launched themselves, directly or indirectly, against the Pontiff, guilty of having said that condoms do not resolve the problems in Africa but rather aggravate them," Cavoni recalled. "The criticisms were escalated the moment the most ferocious observations arrived on the part of several European government exponents, including the resolution of the Belgian Parliament that requested that the Pope deny what he had affirmed.

"The fact is that one presumes that whoever takes such strong positions, knows what the Pope really said, but it wasn't like this. All were talking but few had listened. So much so that, subsequently, many scientists confirmed the concepts Benedict XVI expressed."

Virtual reality

The author lamented that it still holds true: People believe what they hear on TV or read in the newspaper.

"The media acquires a very powerful principle of authority," he said. "If, therefore, things, events, the news presented are based on partial reconstructions or bits of reality, the reader will receive the gift of a deformed reality, which does not correspond to the truth. With this technique one can even create a virtual reality parallel to the real one. [...]

"We are not speaking of a nebulous objectivity, of impartiality. No, we are talking about the fact that I must be present on the scene of the event about which I write. And if this isn't possible, given that in the specific case, not all journalists can be in the Pontiff's entourage, at least I must take the trouble to listen again, word for word, to what the Pope really said and why he said it.

"Instead, many trusted what they heard being said about an initial, incorrect text. The rest is the typical story of misinformation."

[With information from Antonio Gaspari]
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