A rchive Date
[ 01-08-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Vatican ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2022179
Vatican fuels firestorm over gay marriage
By PATTY REINERT and BENNETT ROTH
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
Aug. 1, 2003, 12:15AM
WASHINGTON -- The Vatican condemned gay marriages and adoptions Thursday, touching off a firestorm of controversy worldwide one day after President Bush weighed in against legalizing same-sex unions in the United States.
"Marriage exists solely between a man and a woman. ... Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law," said the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The 12-page document, "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons," was endorsed by Pope John Paul II and issued from Vatican City in seven languages.
It said Catholics and non-Catholics alike have a "moral duty" to fight the trend toward affording more legal rights to gay men and lesbians.
Gay adoptions "mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development," it said.
The strongly worded statement was criticized by gay rights supporters across North America and Europe and embraced by religious conservatives, including some in the United States who are pushing Bush to back a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage here.
In Houston, Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of the Galveston-Houston Diocese called the Vatican statement "a reaffirmation of the Church's teaching that marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman."
He said legal recognition of homosexual unions would "lead to a weakening of marriage as foundational for family life and the common good of society."
Mitchell Katine, a Houston gay rights lawyer, rejected that notion, saying allowing gays to marry would strengthen their family bonds and create a more emotionally and financially stable environment in which to care for their children.
"I don't understand what they are afraid of," he said of heterosexuals opposing gay marriage. "How can my personal relationship with my partner possibly take anything away from the relationship of another couple?"
The issue of gay marriage became a hot debate topic this summer after two Canadian provinces, following the lead of several European countries, began recognizing gay marriages. At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the nation's remaining sodomy laws, ruling in a Houston case that homosexuals, like their heterosexual neighbors, have a constitutional right to privacy in the bedroom.
Many U.S. companies have begun to include gays in their nondiscrimination policies and to provide health and life insurance benefits to gay partners, and several court cases around the country are challenging bans on gay marriage and adoption.
On Wednesday, Bush was questioned about his personal views on homosexuality during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.
He said Americans should treat gays with respect but should not allow them the right to marry.
"I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or the other, and we've got lawyers looking at the best way to do that," he said.
He also cautioned Americans against judging gay people, saying, "we're all sinners."
On Thursday, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., fired off a letter to the president, saying she was "shocked and insulted" that Bush seemed to equate homosexuality with sin.
"Though you say, `It's very important for our society to respect each individual,' you demonstrate utter disrespect by calling homosexuals sinners," she wrote.
Two White House briefings were dominated by the issue, eclipsing even questions about the war in Iraq. White House spokesman Scott McClellan was repeatedly asked to clarify Bush's comments and to reconcile them with earlier remarks in which the president distanced himself from the call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Asked whether Bush believes homosexuality is sinful, McClellan responded: "The president said, `We're all sinners.' And the president believes that in the eyes of God, we are all the same. And the president believes that it's not his place to judge other people."
But he said Bush's stance against gay marriage is "an important position that he holds based on a principle" and he's not going to change it.
Asked what Bush meant by saying a gay marriage ban ought to be codified, however, McClellan hedged. He said the president and government lawyers are waiting to see how the issue plays out in state courts before deciding how to proceed.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is expected to rule any day on whether same-sex unions should be legalized, and a similar case is pending in New Jersey Superior Court.
"I don't know how these rulings will come down. We need to let those rulings take place," McClellan said. "But make no mistake about it, the president is strongly committed to protecting the sanctity of marriage and defending a sacred institution that he believes is between a man and woman."
Meanwhile, the Senate's top Democrat, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, said he sees no need to rewrite the law because the federal Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1996 and signed by President Clinton, already denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages. The law, which Daschle said he supports, also allows states to ignore same-sex unions licensed elsewhere.
"No changes necessary, in my view," he said. "You've got it in law today."
Chronicle wire services contributed to this story.]
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