Vatican official: legal protection for same-sex couples does not require marriage
February 05, 2013
The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family has said that governments should find ways to protect the legitimate legal rights of unmarried couples without recognizing same-sex marriage.
Acknowledging that a growing number of couples—heterosexual and homosexual--live together outside marriage, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said that laws can be crafted “to prevent injustice and make their lives easier.” But he insisted that an unmarried couple should not be recognized as a family.
Archbishop Paglia’s words were interpreted by some reporters as a step toward Vatican acceptance of same-sex unions. In fact the archbishop was emphasizing that homosexual partnerships are not the same as marriage. “The Church must defend the truth,” he said, “and the truth is that a marriage is only between a man and a woman.”
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Further information:
- Vatican signals options for protecting gay couples (AP)
- Most people still see marriage, family as ideals for life, Vatican official notes (CWN, 2/4)
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Posted by: WBSM -
Feb. 06, 2013 10:40 PM ET USA
Laws should be crafted to prevent injustices and make real families' lives easier and encourage men and women to choose marriage (the real one, of course) and establish natural families. Laws that would do this, by necessity, would discourage non-marital unions because they wouldn't give them those privileges that are given to marriage. People who don't want to get married but want those privileges don't realize that this would be in their best interest, but it indeed would be.
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Posted by: R. Spanier (Catholic Canadian) -
Feb. 05, 2013 8:27 PM ET USA
The Church opposes legalization of same-sex unions: "Those who would move from tolerance to the legitimization of specific rights for cohabiting homosexual persons need to be reminded that the approval or legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil. In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty." CDF "Considerations..." Jun/03
