Gay civil unions and same-sex marriages are a “Trojan horse” that fundamentally weaken the institution of the family, a senior Catholic cardinal has warned, a month after the issue was raised by Pope Francis at a ground-breaking summit in the Vatican.
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian Bishops Conference, said that civil unions between gay men and women only serve to “confuse people” and undermine traditional family life, especially if the couples go on to have children, either through adoption or through donor methods.
“It is irresponsible to weaken the family by creating new forms”, the cardinal told a meeting of Italian bishops in the town of Assisi in Umbria on Monday.
“It only confuses people and has the effect of being a sort of Trojan horse, undermining culturally and socially the core of humanity.”
Children “have a right to a mother and a father”, Cardinal Bagnasco told the bishops.
Last month bishops, archbishops and cardinals at a Vatican synod discussed gay unions, among other contentious issues confronting the Catholic Church, after Pope Francis called for more compassion to be shown to gay people and family arrangements that the Vatican regards as unorthodox.
The Pope last year famously said: “Who am I to judge?” when asked about homosexuals, particularly in regard to their role within the Church.
Many in the Church have been appalled by his comparatively liberal approach, especially conservatives in the US, and an interim synod document that urged the Church to be “welcoming” to homosexuals was later watered down substantially.
Cardinal Bagnasco’s remarks were interpreted as an attack on the increasing number of mayors in Italy who have recently made a point of recognising gay marriages performed overseas.
Gay marriage is illegal in Italy but couples who have tied the knot in foreign countries have sought recognition from their local councils by registering their unions in town halls.
The action by mayors around the country earned a rebuke from Angelino Alfano, who is both deputy prime minister and interior minister.
Last month he ordered mayors to stop recognising gay marriages performed in other countries.
A survey last year showed that 85 per cent of Italians supported the idea of recognising civil unions which give same-sex partners more rights.
But the same poll showed that only 25 per cent were in favour of full gay marriage.
The issue has split Italian politics, with the centre-Left broadly in favour of civil unions and the centre-Right staunchly opposed.
“Cardinal Bagnasco’s comments on the family are, as ever, absolutely clear,” said Eugenia Roccella, an MP with the New Centre Right party. “Children have the right to have a mother and a father.
“The attempt by mayors to undermine the law and the Italian constitution by registering gay marriages performed abroad is specious and constitutes a classic Trojan horse tactic.”
