The Roman Catholic Church in France is
being criticized for leading the opposition against a proposed gay
marriage law.
At the church's annual plenary held in
the town of Lourdes on Saturday, Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois
called on Catholics to oppose the measure, Reuters reported.
“The presidential and legislative
elections did not give them carte blanche, especially not for reforms
that very profoundly affect the equilibrium of our society,” said
Vingt-Trois.
“It will not be 'marriage for all,'
it will be the marriage of a few imposed on all,” he added, calling
the proposed reform “a fraud.”
The bill is expected to be introduced
to the French cabinet on Wednesday. The Socialist government has
said they expect to pass the reform by mid-2013.
“I'm shocked by this attitude which I
think is a kind of return to a fundamentalism that I find
problematic,” Jean-Marie Le Guen, a Socialist senator from Paris,
is quoted as saying by Reuters.
Party spokesman David Assouline also
chided the church, saying it was not its role “to oppose the will
of the legislature, especially concerning civil marriage in a secular
republic.”
If approve, France would become the
12th nation to legalize gay nuptials.