ROME (LifeSiteNews) — A member of Uganda’s Parliament is urging the faithful to never compromise on the teachings of the Church, sharing stories of her own witness as a devout Catholic politician.
During a session at LifeSiteNews’ Rome Life Forum earlier this month, Lucy Akello defended the moral truths of human sexuality and criticized Church leaders and fellow Ugandan politicians whom she perceives as having “compromised” on them.
Akello, a member of Parliament (MP) since 2014, told attendees that she helped launch a pro-life caucus to bring other Ugandan MPs together to “defend life [and] talk about these issues that I now see being compromised in the Synod [on Synodality].”
“I read something which really, really disturbed me: Pope Francis closed the Synod with a dream of a ‘Church with open doors.’ Open doors to what? [The] LGBTQ agenda?” she said. “Sin is sin, period. We cannot have a compromise on this.”
Akello recounted how she led the way in denouncing a motion that supported contraception access for 15-year-old girls back in October. The Parliament of Uganda eventually voted to strike down the motion. She also recalled how she successfully led a motion to strike down the introduction of a bill pushing “comprehensive sexuality education” for Ugandan youth.
A supporter of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, Akello mentioned that Africans are “not about to deviate” from natural law principles on human sexuality, or from the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. She also urged the faithful to pray for the bishops and cardinals, who have a duty to teach and defend the fullness of the Catholic faith.
“This is a call to all the women … Can you emulate what St. Monica did for her son? Can we go on our knees until we see that change that we want?” she said. “There’s nothing that can defeat prayers.”
“In Africa, we say, ‘Push. Pray until something happens.'”
In March, LifeSiteNews reported on Akello’s appearance before the Canadian House of Commons, where she told the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that Ugandans rejected efforts to tie international aid with the adoption of a pro-abortion mentality.
“About abortion, our people are still loyal to religious truth and cultures … it seems no matter how much money will be spent on making abortion look good, our people still see through the money, the marketing and mass education … ” she told the Canadian government.
“Africa has a long history of colonization just like Canada [with] foreign-led governments telling us what is good for us, or what our priorities should be,” she added.