The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland
on Sunday called on Catholics to fight the government’s plans to
legalize gay marriage.
A letter by Scotland's Catholic bishops
called on followers to reject efforts to “redefine” marriage.
“Marriage is a unique lifelong union
of a man and a woman,” the letter states.
The Scottish government last month
announced plans to become the first part of Britain to legalize gay
nuptials. Under the plan, churches would not be required to host
such ceremonies.
The letter, which was read in all 500
of the church's parishes, called on the Catholic faithful to pray for
lawmakers to not adopt marriage equality “for the good of Scotland
and of our society.”
Last week, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the
country's leading Catholic, broke off direct talks with the Scottish
government on the issue.
“The church's teaching on marriage is
unequivocal, it is uniquely the union of a man and a woman and it is
wrong that governments, politicians or parliaments should seek to
alter or destroy that reality,” O'Brien
said.
A majority of Scots (up to two-thirds,
according to some polls) support marriage equality.