The Vatican urged Catholics and non-Catholics on Thursday to unite in campaigning against gay marriages and gay adoptions, seeking to stem the widening legal recognition of same-sex unions.
Catholic politicians have a "moral duty" to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay couples, and non-Catholics should follow their lead since the issue concerns "natural moral law," said the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The 12-page document, issued in seven languages, was criticized by gay groups across North America and Europe, where politicians are increasingly granting homosexual couples the same legal status as heterosexual couples.
"This new document is intended to intimidate public officials across the globe into doing what the Vatican has not been able to do on its own -- stem the growing tide for justice," said Marianne Duddy, executive director of Dignity USA, an organization of gay Catholics. "It is a tremendous shame that the leaders of our Church are becoming the vocal proponents for intolerance and continuing discrimination."
But the document was welcomed by some conservatives, including in Pope John Paul II's native Poland, where Roman Catholic bishops read excerpts at a news conference to condemn a proposal by leftist lawmakers to legalize homosexual unions.
"The idea is immoral and hurting to families and marriages," said Bishop Stanislaw Stefanek.
The document, "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons," sets out a battle plan for politicians confronted with legislation legalizing same-sex unions and rails against gay adoption.
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 document calls on Catholic politicians to vote against laws granting legal recognition to homosexual unions and to work to repeal those already on the books.
"To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral," it said.
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who is Catholic, has supported a proposed law that would define marriage as a union between two people, rather than a man and a woman.
"The prime minister has said on numerous occasions that it's important that there's a separation between the church and the state. It was with this view that the legislation was drafted, and it's with the same view that he'll be voting on the legislation," said Thoren Hudyma, spokeswoman for Chretien.
She quoted the proposed law as saying: "Nothing in this Act affects the freedom of officials of religious groups to refuse to conduct marriage ceremonies that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of