At the conclusion of a nine-day meeting, the bishops of the West African nation of Ghana issued an eight-page statement. The meeting’s theme was “Fratelli tutti and COVID-19: Pastoral Opportunities and Challenges in Ghana.”

In addition to calling on the faithful to receive the Covid vaccine and resume attendance at Mass, the bishops lamented racism and ethnocentrism, welcomed the nation’s president’s plans for a national Christian cathedral, and expressed renewed support for legislation that would “nip in the bud the socio-moral canker of the Lesbian, Gay, bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual Plus (LGBTQIA+).”

“The position of the Catholic Church has remained the same,” the bishops added. “Such practices are against not only Christian values, but Muslim and Ghanaian traditional values as well.”