VATICAN CITY — A high-ranking Vatican official on
Monday (Feb. 4) voiced support for giving unmarried couples some kind of legal
protection even as he reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex
marriage.Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, also said the church should do more to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in countries where homosexuality is illegal.
Nevertheless, Paglia was adamant in reaffirming society’s duty to preserve the unique value of marriage.
“The church must defend the truth, and the truth is that a marriage is only between a man and a woman,” he said. Other kinds of “affections” cannot be the foundation for a “public structure” such as marriage.
“We cannot surrender to a sick egalitarianism that abolishes every difference,” he warned, and run the risk of society becoming a new “Babel.”
France is in the process of legalizing same-sex marriage despite fierce opposition from the Catholic Church; a similar fight is brewing in Britain with the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches sharply opposed to the move.
In a September 2012 document on gay marriage, French bishops recognized the value of France’s current civil unions law, which grants heterosexual and homosexual couples some benefits, such as tax breaks.
In November, voters approved gay marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington state, and the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this spring over federal and state bans on gay marriage.
Responding to journalists’ questions, Paglia also strongly condemned discrimination against gay people, who he said “have the same dignity as all of God’s children.”
“In the world there are 20 or 25 countries where homosexuality is a crime,” he said. “I would like the church to fight against all this.”
Simply what would Jesus do? Which Jesus? The historical Jesus who had the courage to stand up to Jewish and Roman law and call a wrong a wrong.Or the Jesus presented by the modern church, the Captain Kangaroo or Mr Rodgers type Jesus. Nobody crucifies Mr Rodgers. We need to follow the courageous historical Jesus. People are not leaving the church. The church is leaving the true followers of the True Christ.Cannot Archbishop Paglis find any issues to defend the family, that he must spend his time defending sodomites? Please defend the families, an institution under siege rather than further bluring the lines between right and wrong
ReplyDeleteThis man is a Cardinal? What in blue blazes? This statement makes Luther's Ninety- some things he posted on the door look inviting. Let me read into this for the sake of Liberal Catholics:
Deletea) Living together before marriage is Ok
b) The active homosexual lifestyle is Ok
c) Separate Church teaching from secular law.
I am supposed to believe the Church regarding faith and morals well so much for what I thought the Catechism said. Either this man is removed as Cardinal Mahoney was or the concept of the authority of the Magisterium is not existent and the Catholic Catechism has no relevancy in the Catholic Church. Time for a split and pleading with God to bring to light the truth.
Terry from Ypsilanti - some day I'll figure out how to not use annonymous in posting.
Why would you encourage legal protection for couples who are living in sin? I just do not understand the bishops sometimes.
ReplyDelete