The family under threat

The Family has long been the target of secularism. Its main threat in the past came, and still does, from divorce, which has dealt a serious blow to the institution of marriage - envisaged by the Creator to be a lasting bond between one man and one woman for the procreation of children. Thanks to divorce, cohabitation has gradually been replacing marriage in many countries. Why bother to go through the hassle of marriage, which after all is not lasting and can be dissolved on the flimsiest of excuses?

Now another threat, no less damaging, has appeared on the horizon: the so-called gay 'marriages'. A number of countries have already legislated in favour of them, giving such unnatural unions the same recognition, rights, privileges and obligations as heterosexual unions.

In Italy, where the debate on the topic has been gathering momentum, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, is reported to have said that the "proposed civil unions legislation was tantamount to putting 'false money into circulation'." Naturally, those who are in favour of such unions have accused the Cardinal of "threatening to return to the Inquisition".

Unfortunately those who oppose such unions, even here in Malta, are often labelled homophobic, i.e. hateful of homosexuals. Which of course is not the case. Recently a resolution in the European Parliament condemning homophobia was passed by 468 votes to 149, with 41 abstentions.

The resolution called on the EU to adopt measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation. It said that "unjustified and unreasonable" limitations of the rights of homosexuals are often used in the name of public order and religious freedom. It also said that homosexuals suffer discrimination and disadvantages when they are denied "all the rights enjoyed by married opposite-sex partners." The European Parliament was urged to enact legislation to put an end to this discrimination.

Referring to this resolution Mgr Giordano, secretary of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences described it as an "attempt to pressure European countries to grant legal recognition to same-sex unions".

It is clear that the battle is on. As members of the European Union we have to prepare ourselves for the challenges which sooner or later we will have to face and defeat. Discrimination on sexual, racial or any other sort can never be condoned. It is against the laws of God and the teachings of the Church. But we can never accept as normal what goes intrinsically against the laws of nature and of the Creator Himself.