Beware of “sexual deviations,” Catholic Archbishop in Sierra Leone Cautions against Growing Homosexuality among Youths

Freetown, 08 December, 2025 / 9:40 PM

Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles of Sierra Leone’s Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown has proposed the creation of pastoral programs that address issues of sexuality, family life, and “sexual deviations” in the West African country, expressing concern that homosexuality, in particular, has become rampant among Sierra Leonean youths.

In his address at the inauguration of the 2025/2026 Pastoral Year for the Archdiocese of Freetown, Archbishop Tamba Charles described “the developing culture” of homosexuality and lesbianism “among our Catholics, including the youth” as “a worrying pastoral issue.”

“The sex revolution of the 1950s and 1960s that transformed an intimate and sacred act of love between a man and his wife into a source of pleasure with anyone, sometimes for money, led to abortion on demand as an expression of the woman’s right over her body, to get rid of unwanted pregnancies. It has now evolved into sex between people of the same sex,” Archbishop Tamba Charles said in his December 5 address at the event that was held at St. Anthony’s Hall in Freetown.

He added, “These cultural developments have reached Sierra Leone and are now in some of our pastoral units and Church organizations.”

He narrated experiences of young Sierra Leoneans who confided in Priests after resisting same-sex sexual advances.

Archbishop Tamba Charles said that the Catholic Church in Sierra Leone had also had engagements with young people who presented “alarming” opinions on same-sex relationships.

“We had a meeting with the youth and young adults from all our pastoral units in the Archdiocese of Freetown, and the opinions we heard on those issues were alarming,” the Archbishop said.

He added, “It would seem many of our Catholic faithful do not see anything morally wrong with homosexuality and lesbianism.”

Archbishop Tamba Charles noted that the Catholic Church, with its teaching inspired by Sacred Scripture, condemns homosexual acts as “grave depravity”, “intrinsically disordered”, and “contrary to the natural law” because “they close the sexual act to the gift of life”.

“Two men or two women cannot mate and produce a child. Only a union between a man and a woman can do that,” he said, and added, “Therefore, I appeal to all priests in charge of pastoral units in this diocese to educate their faithful, including the youth and young adults, on these issues, because those practices undermine true Catholic marriage of a man and woman, committed to giving birth to children to start a family of their own.”

“It is also important that we organize pastoral programs for married couples to help them to face the challenges society presents them,” he said.

In his address, Archbishop Tamba Charles highlighted several issues of pastoral concern that he said should not be overlooked in the Archdiocese of Freetown’s 2025/2026 pastoral year.

He highlighted the current abuse of drugs such as “kush” and “tramadol”, especially among Sierra Leonean youths, resistance to the implementation of approved Archdiocesan policies, as well as what he described as the overloading the Sunday with celebrations.

The Archbishop who serves as the President of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL)  maintained that young people abusing drugs “die like dogs” on streets in Sierra Leonean streets, and expressed gratitude to authorities in the countries for acting to curb further damage.

“We cannot be indifferent to this scandalous phenomenon in our country,” he said of “kush” ‘abuse that has been described as a national epidemic in the country.

He added, “Thankfully, the law enforcement agencies have stepped up their efforts to find and arrest those who are selling those dangerous drugs to the youth and other vulnerable persons. In the process, they discovered some of their own agents who were involved in the sale and use of those drugs.”

“We pray that those initiatives ensure our streets and neighborhoods are free of dangerous drugs,” the Sierra Leonean Church leader said.

Archbishop Tamba Charles also raised the concern that some Church organizations in the Archdiocese of Freetown are resisting having their parish priests as the principal signatories to their bank accounts, as stated in the approved and signed Archdiocesan policies.

He said that many Priests in charge of pastoral units in Freetown are not enforcing the policy to be signatories to units’ bank accounts, adding, “Those who have attempted to do so have met stiff resistance from the leadership of some Church organizations, some citing the international origins of their organizations.”

“The answer I have for those resistant organizations is that the Archdiocese of Freetown is recognized in Canon Law as a particular Church and therefore can make laws to enhance the pastoral care of its faithful,” he said, adding that the policy of making Parish Priests principal signatories of the bank accounts of Church organizations is to ensure transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the funds of the Church organizations.

“I kindly appeal to all the Church organizations resisting the implementation of the Archdiocesan Policies, to stop this cherry-picking tactic, that is, accepting some Archdiocesan Policies they consider suitable to them and rejecting those not favorable to them,” he said.

Archbishop Tamba Charles also expressed concern that Sunday Masses in the Archdiocese of Freetown are being “overloaded” by thanksgiving celebrations that could be on weekdays.

He said that unlike other countries he had visited, weekday mass attendance in Sierra Leone remains low.

“I have been to countries where Mass attendance on weekdays is so encouraging, because so many people go to Mass before they go to work. Others attend midday Masses,” the Catholic Archbishop said.

(Story continues below)

He added, “There is a real danger of Catholicism in Sierra Leone becoming a Sunday religion. Everyone wants their important events, especially Thanksgiving Masses and Africana celebrations, on Sunday. Liturgically, Sunday is already a mini-Easter that deserves recognition.”

Archbishop Tamba Charles said that the Archdiocese’s new Pastoral Year would focus on issues of safeguarding, the promotion of lay evangelization, and the move “towards a synodal Church”.

On the need for collective responsibility for the mission of the Church, and the promotion of lay evangelization, the Archbishop of Freetown appealed to all pastoral units in the Archdiocese to engage their faithful to be proactive in spreading their gospel of Christ, “beginning at home, in their families, at their places of work, and in their professional engagements.”

“Without imposing our faith on others, let us endeavor to claim the public sphere by allowing our faith to influence our social and political engagements,” he said, and explained, “If you are a doctor, let others know that you are a Catholic doctor; if you are a nurse, let them know that you are a Catholic nurse.”

“Without being pharisaic, let others know that our thoughts and actions are guided by the principles of our fundamental call to be missionary disciples of Christ,” Archbishop Tamba Charles said.