Sunday, January 13, 2013

Italian Catholic Church likens gay parenting to selling children

The Catholic hierarchy and the right-wing parties said that 'a child should have a father and a mother, not two gay parents'. 
 
The high court said that gay parents are 'as good as straight ones'

The Catholic Church and the right-wing parties in Italy have reacted angrily to the decision of the Italian high court stating that gay parents are as good as straight ones.

CEI, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, the Catholic bishops’ conference, wrote on the Avvenire: ‘This sentence is ambiguous and it goes against the common sense and the common knowledge on children’s welfare.’

But the court’s decision - which decided that a son should live with his lesbian mother and her partner, against the father’s will – made TV star Don Mazzi react as well.

Don Mazzi, a very famous Italian priest, said: ‘The court decided against nature, which wants a child to live with his/her father and mother.’

However, the strongest reaction came from bishop Vincenzo Paglia, who said: ‘They think that children are things on sale in a shop. They are not like that and this sentence is unrespectful of the natural order.’

The Italian right-wing parties joined the Church’s battle against the supreme court. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s PDL, Popolo della Libertà, was the first in the line.

Ex secretary of State Maurizio Gasparri said: ‘This is a very dangerous decision, because it lets the door open to gay parents, who are not allowed to adopt a child.’

Rome’s mayor Gianni Alemanno added: ‘A child needs a man and a woman, a father and a mother. This is the reality of things.’