Pope Benedict XVI today delivered a speech to Bishops from the United States and in it demanded their commitment in fighting same-sex marriage in the U.S. This attack on the legal unions of same-sex couples has become a regular event for the Pope. Earlier this year, Pope Benedict said that same-sex marriage undermines “the future of humanity itself.â€
Benedict, speaking to the American Bishops, quoted his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, saying, “the good that the Church and society as a whole expect from marriage and from the family founded on marriage is so great as to call for full pastoral commitment to this particular area. Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injurious to them is injurious to society itself.â€
Reuters notes:
Pope Benedict on Friday denounced the “powerful political and cultural currents” seeking to legalise gay marriage in the United States, where Maryland has just become the eighth state to allow it.
The pope’s latest comments in opposition to homosexual marriage came in an address to bishops from several Midwestern states on a regular visit to the Vatican.
“Sexual differences cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to the definition of marriage,” he said.
He added that the traditional family and marriage had to be “defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature” because, he said, whatever injured families injured society.
“In this regard, particular mention must be made of the powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage (in the United States),” he added in a clear reference to gay marriage.
And the AFP adds:
He also said bishops could not overlook “the serious pastoral problem presented by the widespread practice of cohabitation”.
“The contemporary crisis of marriage and the family… has led to grave societal problems bearing an immense human and economic cost,” he added.
Benedict XVI has frequently warned against liberal family values in veiled references to homosexual marriage and adoptions by gay couples, and the Catholic Church often condemns countries that recognise gay rights.
The pope’s fears that the traditional family is at risk are likely to be the focal point of the World Meeting of Families 2012 in Italy in June.
Last September, Pope Benedict XVI was accused of “crimes against humanity†by sex abuse victims in a complaint filed at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
And in August last year, Pope Benedict XVI attacked same-sex marriage as he spoke to a reported one to 1.5 million people at World Youth Day events in Spain.