Church will not give up its defence of marriage, says Vatican Spokesperson
November 10, 2012: ‘Preserving a vision of the human person and of human relationships
where there is a public acknowledgement of monogamous marriage between a man and woman
is an achievement of civilisation…. and the Church will not give up proposing that
society recognise a specific place for marriage between a man and a woman’ said Father
Federico Lombardi, spokesperson of the Holy See, in his weekly editorial on Saturday.
He also said that ‘in recent days there have been three worrying events concerning
legislation on marriage. In Spain, the Constitutional Court has refused an appeal
that challenged the existing law, which excludes all reference to the difference between
a man and a woman and simply mentions spouse A and B; this remains then the situation.
In France, the Government has presented a bill for the transformation of marriage,
so as to include same-sex marriage. In the United States, some of the referendums
held on the same day as the presidential elections in various States have, for the
first time, delivered an outcome favourable to same-sex marriages. It is therefore
clear that in western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic
vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing
its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union.’
It is nothing new. This we had already realised. Nevertheless, the matter does
not cease to amaze: Because we should be asking if this really corresponds to the
feelings of the people, and because the logic of it cannot have a far-sighted outlook
for the common good. Not only the Catholic Church is saying this; it was pointed out
clearly by the Chief Rabbi of France in a well-reasoned statement. It is not, in fact,
a question of avoiding unfair discrimination for homosexuals, since this must and
can be guaranteed in other ways. It is a question of admitting that a husband and
a wife are publicly recognised as such; and that children who come into the world
can know, and say they have, a father and a mother, added Father Lombardi.