Zenit
http://www.zenit.org/article-12942?l=english
Spain's Bishops Highlight Falsity in Gay "Marriage"
Catholics Urged to Invoke Conscientious Objection
2005-05-06
MADRID, Spain, MAY 6, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Spanish bishops consider the legal recognition of homosexual "marriage" immoral, and urge Catholics to be conscientious objectors.
The bishops released today a statement entitled "On Conscientious Objection to a Radically Unjust Law that Corrupts the Institution of Marriage," reminding Catholic parliamentarians that they may not vote for the proposal, or officiate at weddings between homosexuals.
Supporting statements made recently by Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, the bishops urge officials to invoke conscientious objection.
Spanish Minister of Justice Juan Fernando López Aguilar said the cardinal's proposal was an "incitement to civil disobedience."
Spain's lower house of parliament approved the proposal that extends the right to contract matrimony and adopt children to same-sex couples. The text will be sent to the Senate, where approval is expected.
The Spanish bishops insist that the law will have, as a consequence, "the corruption of the institution of marriage."
"That union is in reality a legal falsification of marriage, so damaging to the common good, as is counterfeit money for the country's economy," explains the statement.
The bishops maintain that, if the law is approved, "it would, in fact, lack the character of a true law, as it would be in contradiction to right reason and the moral norm.
"The function of civil
law is undoubtedly more limited than that of the moral law, but
it cannot be in contradiction to right reason without losing the
force to oblige in conscience."
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