Father Tony Gabbisi, the parish priest at St. Therese's Catholic Church in Kanifing has categorically denied that priests and other clergy in the Catholic Mission in the Gambia have been sexually abusing female members of their religious denominations.
Father Gabbisi's remarks came in the wake of reports suggesting that priests in twenty-three African countries have been engaged in forced sex with lower members of their churches.
A report in a US Christian publication featured signed statements from nuns in the twenty-three African countries claiming that priests and missionaries forced them into sex and in some instances demanded they take contraceptive pills or have abortion. One Joaquin Navarro-Valls acknowledged the allegation.
A Vatican inquiry has since been launched to look into the claim.
Meanwhile Tony Gabbisi, responding to the allegation maintained that the Catholic Mission in The Gambia has registered no such incident. "As far as I am concerned, no such case exist" he re-emphasised.
When contacted for his reaction the Bishop of Banjul Rev. Michael Cleary declined to comment, saying he does not comment on such issues.