Head of the Victory Front caucus in the Upper House Miguel Angel Pichetto said that the same-sex marriage bill being currently debated "does not go against the Church," while expressing that in many provinces "the pressure applied by the religious institutions has been very strong." The bill, which is expected to be cleared for debate by the General Legislation Committee today, will "reach across different political ideologies," he assured, although acknowledging that some senators in his party "may vote against it due to their own personal convictions."
"Many senators from different parties will support the bill, then we're going to have an important debate about it, and finally ratify the Lower House's preliminary approval," he explained.
Mr. Pichetto also complained about the "amount of pressure being exerted in some provinces by the Catholic Church" to repeal the initiative, and asked the Episcopate to "reconsider their position" in order to embrace a more "modern, supportive vision."
"This bill does not go against the Church, but the Church has to reconsider their position in order to have a supportive vision. Right now their vision is very old-fashioned and needs to be updated. There are many priests who already share a more adequate vision of this changing world, and the Church must adapt to dealing with a more secular state," he stated.
Mr. Pichetto concluded by saying that the Church "should embrace all its congregations, and discriminating people because they are divorced or gay is a huge mistake. Once the bill is passed, the situation will rectify itself. I don't believe this will create a rupture within the Catholic Church."
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