Despite new law, Ugandan cleric ministers to gays

In this photo taken Sunday, March 16, 2014, Rev. Christopher Senyonjo, 82, gives a sermon on human sexuality at his makeshift church, the size of a small office, in Kampala, Uganda. Dressed in a purple shirt and white collar that highlight his Anglican faith, Bishop Senyonjo doesn’t organize his Sunday evening prayers for homosexuals only, but his sermons attract many gays who are familiar with his sympathetic views in a country where other Christian preachers have led Uganda’s anti-gay crusade. (AP Photo)

Mar 29, 3:33 PM EDT
By RODNEY MUHUMUZA
Associated Press

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) -- Young men sing hymns and recite the Bible before the Rev. Christopher Senyonjo gives a sermon on human sexuality. When the service is over some go to his desk, one by one, for counselling no other Ugandan religious leader is known to offer gays.

Dressed in a purple shirt and white collar that highlight his Anglican faith, Bishop Senyonjo doesn't organize his Sunday evening prayers for homosexuals only. But his sermons attract many gays who are familiar with his sympathetic views in a country where other Christian preachers have led Uganda's anti-gay crusade.

For ministering to homosexuals, Senyonjo has become estranged from Uganda's Anglican church. He was barred from presiding over church events in 2006 when he wouldn't stop urging his leaders to accept gays. The parish that he once led doesn't even acknowledge his presence when he attends Sunday services there, underscoring how his career has suffered because of his tolerance for gays in a country where homosexuals -and those who accept them - face discrimination.

"They said I should condemn the homosexuals," he said, referring to Anglican leaders in Uganda. "I can't do that, because I was called to serve all people, including the marginalized. But they say I am inhibited until I recant. I am still a member of the Anglican church."

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