Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco said
Monday there is no division among bishops over the government's
civil unions bill giving same-sex couples some of the same
rights as straight married couples.
"The bishops are united...in sharing the difficulties and
trials of the family," said Bagnasco, who heads the Italian
Bishops' Conference (CEI) and is the archbishop of Genoa.
"We dream of a country...in which respect for all is part
of the lifestyle, and the rights of each are guaranteed on
different levels, according to the law".
"We must never forget the identity that is proper to the
family, its importance for the country's stability and economic
development, and its key role in the education of the new
generations," Bagnasco went on.
"Believers have a duty and a right to participate in the
common good, with a serene heart and a constructive spirit," he
said.
It is up to lay people, the cardinal said, to "inscribe
divine law into the life of the earthly city".
Catholic lawmakers across party lines are balking at a
provision in the government's civil unions bill, which would
allow one partner in a couple to adopt the other's biological
children. They also objected to wording in the bill that
compared same-sex unions to heterosexual marriage for juridical
purposes.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
