If there was ever a time the issue of the acceptance of gay marriages in the Catholic Church died down, it would probably have been in another lifetime. Recently, a new noise has been made under the topic as Pope Benedict strongly affirmed his opposition to it, stating that these policies undermined traditional family values and threatened ‘the future of humanity itself.’
The Pope gave out this statement last Monday as he was referring to the education of each generation. According to him, each generation needed a ‘setting,’ which included a family led on by the marriage of a man and a woman.
‘This is not a simple social convention but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself,’ the Pope said.
As the leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, it was a bit too much to blame on same sex marriages. What about the number of conventional families who end up in divorce? If Catholics are so concerned about the ‘setting’ a child grows up in, then why doesn’t they concentrate more on the values that broken families produce? If they really want to make the perfect ‘setting’ a child can grow up in, then that should be something they focus on.
The comments made by the Pope were regarded as some of the strongest he has ever said about same sex marriages. Back in 2010, the Pope also criticized the issue just a few days prior to its signing into Portugese law.
Fortunately, there are several other religious individuals who do not follow the remarks left by the Pope. Although Cardinal George Pell, the Catholic Archbishop in Sydney, still has not left a comment, he has been known for his vocal opposition to changing the legal definition of marriages in Australia. At the same time, Alex Greenwich (Australian Marriage Equality) had this to say: ‘The Pope’s comments are not reflective of the entire Christian or Catholic community, many of whom support marriage equality based on their Christian values of love, family and fairness.’ He believes same-sex marriages will strengthen families instead of undermining them.
[Source: SMH]