Polygamy, the transmission of the faith, young people and the media propaganda on sexuality and the gender theory — these were just some of the topics discussed during the ad limina visit of the Bishops of Ghana's Episcopal Conference. When they arrived at the Pontifical Council for the Family, on September 23rd, they were greeted by the President of the Dicastery, Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia, who thanked them for having begun to reflect on the problems of the family in Africa at the Conference on the New Evangelization in the transmission of faith and the role of marriage and the apostolate of family.
In his speech, the President of the Ministry of the Laity, Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, pointed out that, in Ghana, there is no pastoral commission specifically for the family, but is included in the Pastoral Care of the laity: "The family plays a very important role in the transmission of the Christian faith. In the context of marriage, the family is the heart of everything and can accompany couples, because marriage concerns not only the man and the woman but the whole family as well. Among the challenges to be faced is the regularization of couples who have contracted the traditional African marriage or who are cohabiting."
According to the traditional African culture, continued Bishop Palmer-Buckle, "it is the man who marries the woman, men marry more than one and so become polygamists and, hence, it becomes difficult regularize these situations. Another challenge to be dealt is that of young people, who fall victim to media propaganda about sexuality: from this point of view, we think that post-confirmation catechesis can help and make the family a vocation."
