Author:
Publication: ninemsn.com.au
Date: March 29, 2007
URL: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=257628
A directive by Italian bishops ordering Catholic
politicians to vote against gay rights legislation has caused a political
uproar and prompted fresh charges of Church interference in domestic affairs.
The long-awaited note, issued Wednesday by
the Italian Bishops Conference, was significant because it specifically targeted
politicians as they consider a law to give homosexual and heterosexual unmarried
couples more rights.
While not specifying any punishment by the
Church, it says Catholics could not hide behind "the principle of pluralism"
or compromise on what it called the ethical needs of society.
The note said Catholic politicians had "the
moral duty to clearly and publicly voice their disagreement and vote against
any proposed law that would recognise homosexual couples".
While some Catholic and centrist politicians
welcomed the directive as food for thought, other MPs and civil rights groups
condemned it as outright interference.
"This continuous, daily interference
by the Church in parliament's activity is intolerable," said leftist
senator Luisa Boccia. "What's next, excommunication?"
Italians and their government are deeply split
over gay rights.
Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left
coalition has tabled a bill in parliament that guarantees rights to unmarried
couples in such areas as inheritance and health care. But some opponents fear
it is a "Trojan horse" to eventually allow gay marriage in Italy.
Two weeks ago, Pope Benedict said the Church's
opposition to gay marriage was "non-negotiable" and that Catholic
politicians had a duty to oppose it.
Prodi, a practising Catholic, has said the
draft law should not be seen as a threat to the traditional family.
But some of his ministers have vowed to fight
it in parliament and some are expected to attend a demonstration planned for
May 12 in defence of the traditional family.
Commentators said the strongly worded note
and the equally passionate reaction has raised a simmering conflict between
the Church and the state to a new, harsher level.
"Catholics have been warned," headlined
the conservative Rome daily newspaper Il Tempo.
Franco Grillini, an openly gay parliamentarian
in Prodi's coalition, called the bishops' note "ecclesial homophobia".
Another leftist politician, Pino Sgobio, said
the Vatican had to realise that unmarried couples are a fact of life and parliament
had a duty to pass laws to protect the rights of people who have decided not
to marry.
