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| U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said his Catholic beliefs are part of who he is as a politician. But critics pointed out that Santorum’s positions at times contradict church doctrine, most notably on Santorum’s support for the death penalty and the war in Iraq. (Photo by Ralph Wilson/AP) |
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HOME > NEWS > RELIGION NEWS
By: JOE CREA COMMENTS
 
ROME — The Vatican issued a document last week reiterating its position
that “homosexuality is a troubling moral and social phenomenon,” and
instructing Catholic politicians that they are “obliged to oppose” same-sex
unions for the “common good.” Politicians were warned that supporting
gay marriage rights would be “gravely immoral.”
The Vatican — the body responsible for policing Roman Catholic orthodoxy — said
legal recognition of same-sex unions “would obscure certain basic moral
values and cause a devaluation of the institution of marriage.” Church
officials made the statement in a report titled “Considerations Regarding
Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Couples.”
The 12-page document also says that children adopted by gay parents would
be exposed to “violence … 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.”
Marianne Duddy, executive director of Dignity/USA, the nation’s largest
group of gay Catholics, harshly criticized the document, calling it “vicious” and “unfounded.”
“Two things bother me the most about the document,” Duddy said. “One,
is the absolute arrogance that the Vatican has the right to impose their own
moral value system on the entire citizenry of democratic countries. And then,
of course, is that same-sex couples expose children to violence. How can the
Vatican, with the mess that they made, dare to make such unfounded and vicious
claims against gay and lesbian couples who are providing homes to children
in society that no one else wants?”
A spokesperson for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said that there
is “nothing new” in the document released by the Vatican regarding
church teaching on the issue of same-sex unions and added that the church will
continue to teach love for everyone and instruct, in a “positive way,” the
church’s understanding of marriage.
The Vatican’s position regarding gay marriage and adoption was not new
to many Catholics, but gay activists and proponents of Catholic Church reform
said that the language in the document was more vitriolic than that in other
position papers. Also, many said they were upset at the suggestion that Catholic
politicians should take “marching orders” from the Vatican.
Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) rebuked the Vatican
for the suggestion that Catholic politicians have a “moral duty” to
oppose same-sex unions.
“
I believe in the church, and I care about it enormously,” Kerry told
the Associated Press. “But I think that it’s important to not have
the church instructing politicians. That is an inappropriate crossing of the
line in America.”
Kerry, who opposes gay marriage, said that same-sex couples should have the
same legal recognition as married couples.
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said on Fox News Sunday that he disagrees “dramatically” with
Kerry’s statement and said that it is his “right as a Catholic
politician to uphold the values that I believe are important to me, and important,
that I believe, for this country.”
Prominent Catholic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a statement that
while the church is free to determine what marriage is, it is the job of the
government, not the church, “to say who can be married in a civil sense.”
Kennedy’s brother, President John F. Kennedy, overcame widespread fears
when he sought the presidency in 1960 that should he be elected, he would receive
political orders from the Vatican.
This is the second time this year that the Vatican has attempted to influence
Catholic politicians. In January, Pope John Paul II signed a “doctrinal
note” sent to political leaders that discussed how much leeway Catholic
politicians have when making decisions on moral issues.
Social conservatives have praised the Vatican document. The U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops “welcomed” the considerations and said the
purpose was to protect the “common good” and “preservation
of the family.”
Other conservatives, like Pia de Solenni, a moral theologian and fellow at
the conservative Family Research Council, wrote in a recent article that Catholic
politicians, “can’t hide behind the veil of so-called ‘personal
belief’ and not articulate opposition to laws supporting same-sex unions.
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| Democratic presidential candidate Sen. trong>John
Kerry (D-Mass.), who is a
Catholic, said the Vatican has no business instructing politicians on how
to vote. (Photo by Luis Gomez) |
“Politicians who wish to publicly identify themselves as Catholic must
be accordingly open about their Catholic beliefs, and they have to vote accordingly.
Being Catholic carries with it a responsibility to ...
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