Italian government will push for civil-union legislation; bishops' leader opposed

August 25, 2015

Italy's government will forge ahead with plans to enact civil-union legislation to protect homosexual couples, a cabinet minister told a Catholic lay group.

Transportation minister Graziano Delrio told members of Communion and Liberation, holding their annual conference at Rimini, that recognition of civil unions should not "erode the constitutionally protected value and significance of marriage."

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, the president of the Italian bishops' conference, disagreed. "Applying rights equal to those of families to other types of relationships is an attempt to treat different realities the same way," he told Corriere della Sera. He added that the rights of homosexuals as individuals are already amply protected by existing law.

 

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Further information:

• Govt to forge ahead on civil unions says Delrio (ANSA)
• Unioni civili, Bagnasco: «Scorretto dare gli stessi diritti delle famiglie» (Corriere della Sera)