Dignity Canada
DignitéI am forwarding an important email from New Ways
Ministry in the USA asking those who are concerned about the violence towards
LGBT persons in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, Jamaica and elsewhere to send their
concerns to Pope Francis. In Nigeria, there are essentially lynch mobs seeking
to kill LGBT persons who have recently been rounded up and imprisoned under new
laws simply for who they are. Unfortunately, some
Catholic bishops and at least one cardinal in those countries have
spoken out in support of their countries' draconian legislation and are
proclaiming the misinformation that gay/lesbian sexual orientation is being
imported into their countries from the West. Such ignorance and/or prejudice by
Church leaders is truly shocking and runs completely counter to the message of
God's universal and unconditional love as conveyed by Jesus. Thanks for anything you can do to bring this
urgent matter to the Vatican's attention.
Frank Testin
President, Dignity Canada Dignité 14 February, 2014 Tweet the Pope to Save LGBT People Around the
World!
 A world of
humanity is mobilizing around the #PopeSpeakOut Twitter
campaign to persuade Pope Francis to speak out against the growing tide of
anti-LGBT laws around the globe. The campaign is launching today! Bondings 2.0 encourages all
of its readers who use Twitter to participate.The campaign organizers are New Ways Ministry, The Fellowship Global, and a
growing number of co-sponsors. It offers a positive action that people can take
to respond to the dangerous new wave of anti-LGBT laws and policies in countries
such as Nigeria, Russia, Uganda, India, and Jamaica.
“By sending tweets to the pope, we want to move him to speak out against
these laws, many of which have been supported by Catholic leaders and people in
these nations,” said Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways
Ministry. “We were amazed and gratified when Pope Francis said ‘Who am I
to judge.’ Now we need a powerful, faith-based statement from Pope Francis to
support the freedom and lives of our LGBT sisters and brothers.”
Pastor Joseph Tolton, Executive Director of The Fellowship Global said,
“People of faith and hope from all traditions will tweet the Pope to urge him to
make a pronouncement to the world to ‘Do no harm!’ The rising tide of draconian
laws to criminalize LGBT people and their supporters allow vigilantes to rape,
beat and kill people who are suspected of being LGBT with impunity. This must
stop!”
It will be incumbent on all of us, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, to
help spread the word about the campaign so that the pontiff hears from people
from all over. We are heartened by the fact that the papal
nuncio in Uganda was pre-disposed to reject that nation’s anti-gay bill and
that Cardinal
Oswald Gracias, the archbishop of Mumbai who is one of the pope’s closest
advisors, has spoken out strongly against India’s anti-LGBT action. These
signs indicate that there is a good chance the pope will, with the right
encouragement, speak out, too.
The campaign has established a website, NoMoreTriangleNations.com, as a
resource and headquarters for the campaign. “Triangle Nations” is a
reference to the pink triangle assigned to gay men in Nazi concentration camps
during the Holocaust.
New Ways Ministry is a
37-year old national Catholic ministry of justice and reconciliation for LGBT
people and the wider church community and civil society.
The Fellowship Global is a partnership with circles of Christian clergy and
LGBTI people in the African Diaspora to express a faith perspective supporting
the social, legal, and moral inclusion of all people regardless of sexual
orientation or gender identity.
Bondings 2.0 will
keep you updated on the campaign, the pope’s response, and on Catholic influence
in “triangle nations” as they develop.
Here are some sample tweets that can be used: (in Twitter, click on "compose new tweet" and paste in
one of the lines below)
– Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry
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