ROME, December 21, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Homosexual lobbyists are in an uproar over the warm reception given by Pope Benedict XVI to leading Ugandan politician Rebecca Kadaga, who brought a delegation of Ugandan legislators on a state visit to the Holy See. Kadaga, the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, and the group of politicians were in Rome earlier this month to attend the meeting of the International Criminal Court and the World Parliamentary Conference on Human Rights.
The leading UK-based homosexual news outlet PinkNews condemned the meeting, noting that Kadaga has promised to bring in legislation that would impose the death penalty for persons engaging in homosexual activity.
Readers on the site left a slew of anti-Catholic comments. One wrote, “What an evil old man! Is it not time for the UK to repeal the Catholic Emancipation Acts?”
Another said, “Although history has yet to reveal a pope who was gay-friendly, Pope Benedict XVI will go down as one of the most dispicable [sic] and evil popes in history now that he effectively supports the death penalty for gays by giving Rebecca Kadaga a blessing. That man preaches with the Old Testament in one hand and Hitler’s Mein Kampf on the other. Pope Benedict is the Third Reich’s last hurrah.”
Another opined, “If Hitler were alive today, he too, would be getting a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI.”
Kadaga herself expressed delight at the meeting, saying she had been reading stories about the pope and St. Peter’s Basilica. “I think it is something that I will remember all my life. It’s a very great moment and I thank God for this opportunity,” she said minutes after meeting the pope.
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Ugandan laws outlawing homosexual activity are among the strongest in the world, with “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” carrying a potential penalty of life imprisonment. And there is little public interest in loosening the law, with a 2007 Pew research survey finding 96 percent of 1,122 respondents believing the “homosexual lifestyle” is unacceptable.
Uganda’s population is divided approximately between 45 percent Catholics, 20 percent Anglican, and 13 percent Muslim, with the rest made up of smaller groups of various Protestant denominations.
Another poll, taken in 2010 and comparing social attitudes of Christians and Muslims in East African countries, showed that 11 percent of Christians in Uganda believed homosexual behavior was “morally acceptable” and 80 percent said it was “morally wrong.” Five percent said it is not a moral issue.
The divide among Muslim Ugandans was about the same, with 12 percent believing it morally acceptable, 77 percent not accepting and six percent believing it is not a moral issue.