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(LifeSiteNews) — We went to Africa with the hopes of getting to the last place on earth where the truth about the family is still respected. We were where sexual morality is under fierce attack from the West, which is trying to force the poorest of the poor in line with the woke agenda. We visited Uganda and Kenya, where Christians form the majority of the population, where the spiritual leadership stands strong in its defense of traditional family values, and where the government too recognizes the harm to society from contravening God’s design for human sexuality.

So when we went to Africa, it was just at the same time Pope Francis was suggesting that the African bishops need a “conversion” on the matter of anti-sodomy laws. He suggested that the laws involve the death penalty, and that it is a crime to have homosexual tendencies — that is, of course, not the case.

I spoke with legal experts about the laws around homosexuality there, but I got to interview one of the most impressive lawyers I’ve ever met. I guarantee you that you are about to learn a ton in this next interview. You will learn not only the actual laws in Africa, but about their origin and the philosophical roots of the loss in the West of the war against the family. This is the interview Pope Francis should have had before commenting on anti-sodomy laws and the need of the African bishops to “convert.” This is The John-Henry Westen Show.

Last week we showed you the strong stance of the African bishops standing in firm support of legislation protecting the family — in support of anti-sodomy laws. They are ready, they said, to suffer even martyrdom to hold true to God’s truth on the family. They know they face the superpowers of the world and are ready to stick to the truth, come what may — persecution and even death.

But the pressure from heretical factions in the Church is also strong, and I truly wondered when I went there if they would be able to survive that combined pressure of the state and the Church. I was assured that indeed they would. First off, I was told 95% of the people in the pews fully support pro-family teachings and legislation. And our gracious host in Africa reminded me too that the Anglican bishops in Africa have withstood the same pressure from Anglican leadership in the West to cave in on homosexuality and have stood firm for 30 years.

READ: African bishops mark beginning of Lent with call to fight LGBT propaganda, homosexuality

I spoke also with school officials and pro-life activists in Africa about the LGBT agenda being pushed and what they are doing to fight it. Stay tuned for that in a future episode, but before we get there I just had to address the interview that Pope Francis gave while leaving Africa, where he did that joint press conference with the bishops who lead the pro-LGBT churches of England and the church of Scotland.

During that in-flight press conference, Pope Francis actually suggested, believe it or not, that Pope Benedict XVI supported Pope Francis’ take on homosexual civil unions. However, I can assure you, from Benedict’s own writings, that it is clear that Pope Benedict opposed homosexual civil unions, as does the Church.

In 2003 the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, led by Benedict while he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger under Pope John Paul II, issued a document titled “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons.” And I’ll quote from that document to show exactly what the mind of Pope Benedict, of Cardinal Ratzinger, was on this question:

 When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic law-maker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favour of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral.

The document was approved by Pope Saint John Paul II and ordered to be published. Interestingly, it was published on June 3, 2003, the feast day of the Ugandan Martyrs. If you’re wondering who the Ugandan Martyrs were, click here to watch my show on them from last week.

What is truly alarming about all this is that there was so little pushback from Church authorities regarding the statements by Pope Francis that contravene unchangeable Church teaching. Thankfully we had some pushback. Here was New York theologian Father Gerald Murray speaking on EWTN about it:

But did we hear from any bishops? Even one? Well yes, we did. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, tweeted out a video of a priest, Father Jason Charron, who called out Pope Francis. Bishop Strickland said in his tweet: “This priest speaks truth that needs to be shared. Pray for Pope Francis, pray for the Church, pray for our nation and pray for the world. Pray, pray, pray and live the truth.”

Watch a couple of clips from the priest’s video, and you’ll see why Bishop Strickland’s words are so strong:

But let’s get back to Africa. What I truly wish is that the pope would have learned from the Africans about their rationale for the defense of anti-sodomy laws. Why the insistence on only accepting the so-called “wisdom of the West”? Is there no room in the pope’s heart for the truth coming from Africa? I thought it was all about listening to indigenous peoples? I thought that’s where we were. Apparently not.

Here is what the pope needs to hear. This most impressive lawyer is Charles Kanjama. And now I want you to strap in and get ready to learn. This is the lesson Pope Francis and all of the West needs from Africa. Enjoy.

The John-Henry Westen Show is available by video on the show’s YouTube channel and right here on my LifeSite blog.

You can send me feedback, or ideas for show topics by emailing [email protected].

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John-Henry is the co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com. He and his wife Dianne have eight children and they live in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada.

He has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout the world. John-Henry founded the Rome Life Forum, an annual strategy meeting for life, faith and family leaders worldwide. He is a board member of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family. He is a consultant to Canada’s largest pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, and serves on the executive of the Ontario branch of the organization. He has run three times for political office in the province of Ontario representing the Family Coalition Party.

John-Henry earned an MA from the University of Toronto in School and Child Clinical Psychology and an Honours BA from York University in Psychology.