The Catholic Church has lashed out at
Mexico City lawmakers who approved a gay marriage bill widely
expected to become law.
City legislators led by the leftist
Democratic Revolution Party (Partido de la Revolution Democratica,
PRD) overwhelmingly approved the bill on a 39 to 20 vote that
included five abstentions. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is
expected to sign the bill into law. The bill only effects Mexico's
capital, one of the world's largest cities with nearly 9 million
residents.
After the December 21 vote, members of
the conservative National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional, PAN)
decried the action, saying giving gay couples the right to adopt was
going too far and vowed to appeal to the country's Supreme Court.
Through a spokesman, Cardinal Norberto
Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of Mexico, called the PRD politicians
who approved the bill “dangerous.”
“In society there is no doubt: the
PRD is a danger to the family,” Father Hugo Valdemar said in
an interview posted on the archbishop's website.
Invoking the name of the Holy Father,
he also called on voters to oust PRD members who “undermine our
faith.”
“The Pope has said repeatedly: In
conscience, a Catholic cannot vote for candidates or parties that
promote the destruction of fundamental values and undermine our
faith.”
And he called giving gay couples the
right to adopt a “grave injustice.”
“Who is worried about the rights of
children to have a father and a mother? Who's worried about the
discrimination suffered by not having a heterosexual couple as
parents?” he asked.