Bishop Laffitte Emphasizes Child's Need for Love of Mother and Father
January 12, 2013: The secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family is offering
a "fraternal and warm greeting" to the hundreds of thousands of people expected to
rally in defense of marriage on Sunday along the streets of Paris.
In a telephone
interview with ZENIT, Bishop Jean Laffitte sent from Rome "a fraternal and warm greeting
to all the participants of January 13."
The bishop criticized France's legislation
in favor of same-sex "marriage," saying that all people of good will have a duty to
oppose it, since it is "contrary to the common good."
President François Hollande
campaigned with the promise to legalize same-sex "marriage." He took office last May
and his bill will go before Parliament for debate by the end of this month. The strong
majority in Parliament means the bill is expected to be approved by June.
However,
as many as 100,000 French already protested the legislation in November, and public
support for the measure is falling.
Bishop Laffitte said that "all those who
in one way or another have clearly defended the most fundamental values of the society
to which they belong can be legitimately proud of having done everything they could
to safeguard the common patrimony."
"Marriage, the union between a man and
a woman," Bishop Laffitte added, "is the only structure possible to found a family
where the child can be welcomed in the love of a father and a mother."