CATHOLIC CHURCH TARGETS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL

November 3, 2012

The Catholic Church in France has launched a full-on attack against same-sex marriage, as a draft bill to legalise it is set to be debated in parliament on Wednesday. The bill is being proposed by President Francois Hollande's left-wing government and aims to give same-sex couples similar rights to traditional couples, including adoption.

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris complained that:

“Changes of this magnitude require a broad national debate that does not involve random sampling or pressure from some ostentatious lobby.”

"Ostentatious"? Quite a remarkable choice of words coming form the higher echelons of the Catholic Church. The cardinal, who was speaking at the annual plenary meeting of Catholic bishops at Lourdes today, went on to call for opposition to same-sex marriage by every democratic means possible. This is bold, seeing as laïcité, or secularism, is enshrined in the French Constitution. Can the Church really prove that there is something socially or ethically wrong with same-sex unions and that its antagonism is not purely on religious grounds? Unlikely.

In France, a civil partnership contract, the Pacte Civil de Solidarité (PACS), was introduced 13 years ago and and it allows for a civil union between two adults of any gender. This has largely been taken up by opposite-sex couples, with only 6% or so "pacsé" from same-sex couples this year. That law too caused much controversy, but it did not, in the end, lead to the decadence predicted by those fighting the change. The outcome of this one, should it pass, would be equally non-apocalyptic; it would simply usher a fairer and more inclusive society.