Dissidents, gays attack Vatican document
2000-11-22 23:01
Vatican City - A Catholic dissident group
and Italy's gay community blasted the Vatican on Wednesday over
a document that said unmarried couples, heterosexual and gay,
should not have the same rights as partners in traditional
marriages.
The 76-page document issued on Tuesday by the Vatican's
department on family issues called homosexual unions "a
deplorable distortion" and attacked attempts to allow gay
couples to adopt children.
The document appeared to be an attempt by the Vatican to
stem the tide of moves in Europe and North America to give
common-law couples equal rights in areas including adoption,
pensions, citizenship and taxes.
"I think it was particularly harsh on homosexuals and I
think that many Catholics, both lay and theologians, have
concluded that there are expressions of sexuality outside of
marriage within committed relationships," said Frances
Kissling, president of US-based Catholics for a Free Choice
(CFC).
The Vatican should realise that "many Catholics are living
their lives this way", Kissling told Reuters by telephone from
Washington, where CFC is based.
The document, called Family, Marriage and 'De Facto'
Unions, said putting de facto unions on the same juridical
level as marriage would be detrimental to society and lead to
the breakdown of the family.
Giving unmarried couples the same juridical status as a
married couple was a sign of what it called a breakdown in
society.
"This kind of statement is not likely to contribute to the
growth of the Catholic Church anywhere in the world and is
likely to alienate Catholics further," Kissling said.
Forceful attack against gays
Tuesday's document reserved its most forceful language for
the controversial issue of gay couples, saying: "Marriage
cannot be reduced to a condition similar to that of a
homosexual relationship. This is contrary to common sense."
Kissling said: "I really do think that God has more
important things to worry about than people's sexual relations.
War, poverty, debt reduction, racism - these are the things I
would like to hear more from the Vatican about."
The document was also attacked by Italy's two leading
homosexual rights groups, Arcigay and NOI, which said its call
for legislators to block gay rights bills was tantamount to
Vatican interference in nations' internal affairs.
"This is a mean and cruel stand because it is aimed at
excluding homosexuals and homosexual couples from their
juridical rights," said Franco Grillini, director of the NOI
group and honorary president of Arcigay.
"It is in this way that homosexuals are not guaranteed the
right to welfare for their partner, access to public housing,
rights of inheritance," Grillini said in a statement.
He added that the Vatican document had brought its campaign
against legal rights for gays "to the limits of racism".
In Europe and North America, moves to allow gay couples to
marry and receive other benefits have divided citizens.
Christian Democrats in Germany are opposed to a law
allowing the registration of same sex partners, while the
Canadian government this year overhauled 68 federal statutes to
erase most legal differences between heterosexual and gay
couples.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States is divided
over whether ministers should bless homosexual unions.