Accra, July 17, GNA – Most Reverend John Martin Darko, Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese, has noted that the nuclear family is the bedrock of the society, hence the need for Ghana to shun gay relationships.

He said though the issue of homosexuals and lesbianism had been with mankind over the years, it was the duty of man to renew and restructure the social order which was being destroyed by this creeping menace.

Most Rev. Darko said this at the Fourth Biennial Congress of the Catholic Men’s Fellowship at Ajumaku at the weekend.

It was under the theme; “To Ignite and Unite Men to be Passionate Followers of Jesus Christ through Effective Communication and Fellowship.”

Most Rev Darko noted that like Adam and Eve “we are faced with the choice of the tree of life as against the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” adding it was a challenge to Christians and others who loved and feared God not to apportion special enlightenment like knowledge of science to themselves.

He said the Church had the mandate to promote an enabling environment for citizens to flourish.

Most Rev. Darko said the mandate by God to Adam and Eve to increase and multiply was not a mere biological mandate just to produce offspring but a deliberate moral duty imposed on them which went beyond the physical world.

“God wanted and still wants a people in His own image to share the divine life that was eternal; what is called the family life. To ignite men to be passionate for Christ means learning from the men of the Bible like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David.

“In this present era of corruption, cheating and indiscipline in society characterised by political, ethnic and chieftaincy violence, there is the need to renew society by each and everyone otherwise we all perish,” he said.

Very Rev Father Awortwe-Dadson, Vicar General of Sekondi-Takoradi, said there were many homes without fathers, a phenomenon which was a major contributory factor to the precarious state of the family with its peculiar challenges.

He said fatherlessness undermined, neglected children, caused or aggravated social problems and made individual happiness harder to achieve which had an adverse effect on the church.

Rev Eric Awortwe-Dadson said research had shown that a fatherless child faced higher risk of sexual abuse and the primary results of fatherlessness in the world today were boys with guns and girls with babies.

He said a father played a distinctive role in shaping a daughter’s sexual life and her understanding of the male-female bond adding that the father’s love and involvement builds a daughter’s confidence.

He said women were a force to reckon with in the church and this was so indispensable that one could not imagine a viable church without the influence of women.

Mr Alex Ignatius Ackon, President of the Fellowship, said the Fellowship was formed in response to the call made by Pope John Paul II and the then Archbishop of Cape Coast, His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, for a new evangelisation and reinvigoration of faith among Catholics.

He said it was aimed at providing leadership and opportunities in the church and offer a structure that provided resources consistent with catholic teachings for men’s ministries and evangelisation.

About 300 members from the Diocese attended the congress.