Vatican Starts Campaign Vs. Gay Marriage
 

From: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...n_gay_marriage

Vatican Starts Campaign Vs. Gay Marriage
2 hours, 56 minutes ago

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican (news - web sites) launched a global campaign against gay marriages Thursday, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was "gravely immoral" and urging non-Catholics to join the offensive.

The Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a 12-page set of guidelines with the approval of Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II in a bid to stem the increase in laws granting legal rights to homosexual unions in Europe and North America.

"There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family," the document said. "Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law."

The Associated Press was first to report on the outline of the plan in a story Monday.

The issue is particularly charged in the United States, where some in Congress have proposed a constitutional ban on gay marriage to counter state laws granting legal recognition to same-sex unions.

President Bush (news - web sites) said Wednesday that marriage was defined strictly as a union between a man and a woman and said he wants to "codify that one way or the other."

The Vatican document, "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons," sets out a plan for politicians when confronted with proposed legislation granting homosexual couples the same rights as married heterosexuals.

It also comes out strongly against allowing gay couples to adopt, saying children raised by same-sex parents face developmental "obstacles" because they are deprived of having either a mother or a father.

"Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children," it said.

It said gay adoptions contradicted the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which holds that the best interests of the child are paramount.

The document also says Catholic politicians have a "moral duty" to publicly oppose laws granting recognition to homosexual unions and to vote against them.

If the laws are already on the books, politicians must speak out against them and work to repeal them. "To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral," the document said.

The Vatican said its guidelines were not only intended for Catholic lawmakers but for non-Christians and everyone "committed to promoting and defending the common good of society" since the issue concerned natural moral law, not just Church doctrine.

The document comes after an appeals court in Canada ruled in June that the country's definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman is unconstitutional, paving the way for legalized gay unions.

Vermont and some European nations — including Germany, France, Sweden and Denmark — have "civil union" laws giving same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage.

The document doesn't contain any new Church teachings on the issue, repeating much of the Vatican's previous comments on homosexuality and marriage, which it defines as a sacred union between man and woman designed to create new human life.

It said homosexuals shouldn't be discriminated against, but said denying gay couples the rights afforded in traditional marriages isn't discrimination.

Monsignor Angel Rodriguez Luno, a professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, noted in a statement released by the Vatican that homosexual relationships, like other human relationships, need not be legally recognized.

Basic friendship, for example, isn't defined legally because it is a private relationship, he said.

In a footnote, the Vatican document noted that there was a danger that laws legalizing same-sex unions could actually encourage someone with a homosexual orientation to seek out a partner to "exploit the provisions of the law."

On Thursday, a small group of demonstrators from Italy's Radical Party held up banners at the edge of St. Peter's Square to protest the document. The banners read "No Vatican, No Taliban," and "Democracy Yes, Theocracy No."

Other opposition to the document came from the Green Party in predominantly Catholic Austria. Ulrike Lunacek, a party spokeswoman, said Catholic politicians should follow human rights conventions, "not the old-fashioned views of the Vatican."

"This hierarchy, which also rules on other issues like forbidding the use of condoms to avoid AIDS (news - web sites), is far from reality," she said in a statement.

Volker Beck, a lawmaker from Germany's Greens party, which led the drive for the same-sex civil union legislation, described the Vatican guidelines as "a document of narrow-minded fanaticism."

A leading conservative politician and a Catholic, Wolfgang Bosbach, gave it a warmer reception: "I assume every Catholic lawmaker will take account of the Holy Father's words in making his decision."

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I guess the pope has never heard of separation of church and state. :rolleyes:

So, any comments?

Re: Vatican Starts Campaign Vs. Gay Marriage
 

The Congegration of the Doctrine of the Faith has just as much right to lobby our government as any other organization...that's the beauty of the democratic system.

(I'm not taking sides on the actual issue...)

are u freakin' kidding me? I am sooo tired of people who have such a huge problem with other people's sex lifes. Please ask me again why anyone else's sex life is the business of anyone but those engaged? I mean I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the vatican feels the need to make such a stand that hurts gay people everywhere. I hate any government that even thinks about meddling in the sex life of any people, saying that just because they want to have sex with someone of the opposite sex that everyone in the world should as well. That, IMO is unnacceptable because it is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. That the pope would ENCOURAGE politicians to behave in manner is INNAPPROPRIATE...this situation is no different. I am so tired of religious fanatics/officials trying to make everyone else behave in the same way that they do. I generally respect the pope even though I'm not catholic, but today I have lost any respect for him that I had ever had.

Edited to add: And what bothers me further is that this decree does nothing but make it even harder for homosexuals to have any sort of peace at all. After all, so many people I know have had to deal with coming out of the closet and all the pain it causes them...why would anyone want to make it even harder for them to live a happy, settled lifestyle with someone they love? I think that's just screwed up

Re: Re: Vatican Starts Campaign Vs. Gay Marriage
 

Hijack/
It's actually a republic, not a democratic system
/Hijack

Also not taking sides. Although I think the government should not be involved in people's private issues. That's another topic.

BTW, Watching T3 tommorow when it open. Yipee.

I totally understand your point but I guess (and this is just a guess I'm not a catholic and honestly don't know) that the reason why they are saying this is b/c of where it says in Leviticus that man shall not lie with man and that basically its wrong. So I guess that = gay marriage wrong. Honestly, I can't make up my mind how I feel on the issue of homosexuality in general. I go back and forth...:confused:

edited to add: above all I believe that God is love and he loves us all...

I feel as if the Vatican should have other priorities. Consensual sex between two adults should be the least of their concerns.

I also don't believe that heterosexual marriage is so weak that allowing gay marriage would chip away at an almost ancient institution. But that's just me...

Exactly...I mean hello?!! huge scandal right now involving priests all over america! please issue more statements and do more at finding quality priests!!

It (The Bible) also says that women should be stoned (to death) for committing adultry.

I have a great respect for all religions, including Catholic, however perhaps they should really clean up their own house before they tell others what to do in theirs.

I agree, the Vatican ought to stay out of the bedroom, but the fact is they won't.

I also found it interesting that they made strong statements against gay couples adopting children. Supposedly it's not in the "best interests of the child" to have two fathers and no mother, or two mothers and no father. So let's see... if there are kids up for adoption in a given area, there are no heterosexual couples around who are willing to adopt, but there are homosexual couples who want to adopt, it's actually preferable that the kids should sit around in an orphanage or in foster care rather than be adopted by two loving parents who just happen to be of the same sex???

I maybe wrong but I also think it says something in that book about women having to leave the town during their monthly visitor! I'm all for that! A vacation to some place grand for a week once a month! Where do I sign up! LOL :D :D :D

The gay community will have a strong lobby representing their viewpoint. This lobby is sure to include gay church leaders. There is nothing wrong with a religious leader presenting his opinion on any topic. Agree or disagree, this is more a freedom of speech issue than a separation issue. There is no church/state violation here. Besides, the Pope is in no way restricted by the American idea of church/state separation. To many, this is an issue of morality, and though it is often inept and hypocritical when it comes to such issues, in the eyes of many, the church should address morality.

This issue has gotten icky! I also feel as if W is going to lose a lot of votes for some of the things he said. Personally, yes I agree that it's a sin. So are lots of other things that everyone does. Hate the sin, love the sinner. And don't give them hell about it. I think that a "constitutional ban" on gay marriage is just one more way the government is trying to babysit us, and I, as a Libertarian, don't agree with that philosophy. As long as both partners are of the age of consent and not harming anyone else, I don't see how our government has any right to intervene. I don't see Alabama or Mississippi allowing gay marriage anytime soon. That's their right. Vermont has a climate much more open to diversity and so allowing gay marriage is something right for them. Homosexuality has been going on since the beginning of time and I seriously doubt any legislation will end it. Just my $.02

To play Devil's Advocate...

If we're talking marriage, it's not a bedroom issue. To call it such is to ignore probably around 90% of what marriage is in our society.

Marriage means the combination of assets, paying taxes differently, insurance rates as job benefits applied to spouse, even divorce.

Supporting other peoples' marriages (and divorces) costs us all money. Insurance premiums will be effected (as more individuals will be placed on the "family" roster), court rooms will be crowded even more than they are now as gay people will want divorces as often as straight people. Calling it a "bedroom issue" and invoking the 9th amendment doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

There's a school of thought out there that says public officials are elected by supporters that want them because of their values, moral stands and goals for society. While many might not see this as a moral issue, many others do.

For the Vatican to encourage public officials to vote according to their own values is definitely appropriate! It's just as appropriate as the gay rights activists lobbying their folks to vote their way.

It's America -- both sides have a right to exist and have equal right to be heard. In the end, one or even both will get what they want.

:eek: :eek: :eek: Are you freaking kidding me??? How in the world is that VIOLENCE?? So you're basically saying that a child living with a cracked out mother who has a string of skeezy boyfriends is a better living environment than a happy household where both parents just happen to be of the same gender? Please.

Sorry, I get worked up over situations like this. Please don't flame me. It just hits close to home because my ex-boyfriend's brother (who I loved with all my heart) is gay and he and his partner are engaged and trying to find a way around the law so they can marry.

arggh...."W"...........I'm going to keep quiet now, so i don't offend anyone!!

anywho, swissmiss, I'm going to PM you in a moment!