There were a number of references to same-sex relationships in The Sunday Times, January 28 - none of them positive. Your opinion survey carried out by the newspaper found that only 14.6 per cent were in favour of granting the same rights to gay and lesbian couples.

It is somewhat ironic that despite a significant change in adherence to Church teachings in a number of areas like sex outside marriage and religious practice, opposition to the legal recognition of same-sex couples remains high. Whether this is an indication of hypocrisy or ignorance is difficult to determine.

You magnanimously concede that homosexual acts should not be criminalised and then go on to refer to the legalisation of gay marriages as if this were the worst thing that could possibly happen to Maltese society. Societies in Canada, Spain, Holland, and Belgium have not disintegrated following the legalisation of marriage for same-sex couples. They have simply become more inclusive, just and fair communities. 'A Christian Outlook' claimed that Catholic adoption agencies in the UK, who also receive public funding, should be exempted from anti-discrimination legislation on the grounds of conscience and that they should be allowed to refuse to consider same-sex couples as potential adoptive parents.

This despite that scientific research clearly indicates that gay parents are little different from heterosexual parents, that both lesbian mothers and gay fathers are as sufficient in the roles as heterosexuals, and that the home life they provide is at least of equal quality.

As researchers concluded from a review of the scientific literature: children raised in gay or lesbian households are just as likely to be well-adjusted as those in heterosexual households. Since there is no rational justification for the Church's position, one can only conclude that conscience and prejudice have somehow become interchangeable.