Catholic parliamentarians in Italy who support a bill giving rights to cohabiting couples - both heterosexual and gay - would be 'incoherent' with the teachings of their faith, Italian bishops said in document released on Wednesday."Politicians and legislators, aware of their serious social repsonsibilities, must feel urged by their conscience... to present and support laws inspired by values based on human nature," including, the document said, "the family based on matrimony between a man and a woman."
The bishops said their guidelines for parliamentarians on the issue of so-called civil unions were based on documents drafted by the Vatican's watchdog body on orthodxy, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 2002 and 2003 when it was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, currently Pope Benedict XVI.
Citing a passage in one of those documents the bishops said that "in the case of a bill favouring the legal recognition of homosexual unions, a Catholic parliamentarian has the duty to clearly and publicly express dissent and to vote against the bill."
Wednesday's announcement is the Italian Catholic Church's clearest message to date to Italian politicians of its stance on the so-called "Dico" bill which has been tabled in Parliament.
Critics have accused the Church of interfering with national politics, a view rejected by the head of the Italian Bishops Conference, Angelo Bagnasco, who said the Catholic Church was only doing its duty.
Italy's family affairs minister, Rosy Bindi, a practising Catholic, is one of the strongest supporters of the legislation which would allow straight or gay couples to register their unions and then be eligible for some financial, inheritance and next-of-kin rights.
"The government must always defend the secular nature of the State, " said Giacomo Mancini, a parliamentarian for the Rose in the Fist party of the governing centre-left coalition, in his reaction to the bishops' document.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce