Head ‘Justice and Peace’ Cardinal Fights Gay Civil Unions in Italy
Jul 12, 2006
Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department, warned of the dangers posed to Western society by laws that recognize homosexual unions, in a statement on Thursday reported by ANSA News Agency.
VATICAN CITY, July 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Civilization in the West is taking an “ugly” turn in granting legal recognition to homosexual and unmarried couples, said Cardinal Martino. “Western society is on a slippery slope. The sense of God is being blurred.”
Removing distinctions between different forms of union would be disastrous, he said, because it would question the “meaning of being a man or a woman, the characteristics of love and sexuality.”
He said the movement toward social acceptance and endorsement of unmarried couples, including homosexual unions, indicated disintegrating morals and general confusion in society, reported ANSA.
Italian homosexual rights groups have been pushing for the adoption of civil union legislation in Italy, following the trend initiated by France with the implementation of civil union contracts between unmarried couples, including homosexual couples.
Italian Premier Romano Prodi, a practicing Catholic, has indicated he will address the issue, defending the proposed legal unions on the grounds that they would differ substantially from marriage.
Opponents of the proposal have said civil unions would go against the Italian constitution under article 29, which states: “The Republic recognises the rights of the family as a natural union based on marriage.”
Although a poll conducted late in 2005 found 70 percent of Italians were against same-sex “marriage,” current polls have indicated high levels of support for legal civil unions among the Italian population, despite the Church’s opposition to any legal status for homosexual couples.
In a document released in 2003, “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” the Vatican clearly stated that no legal recognition of homosexual unions would be permissible, regardless of how the rights granted would differ from marriage.
Head ‘Justice and Peace’ Cardinal Fights Gay Civil Unions in Italy