Gay marriage proposals destructive to society, Vatican official says

Published: 2004-11-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Instituting forms of gay marriage does not help homosexuals and is "destructive for the family and for society," Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said. Cardinal Ratzinger said recent legislative proposals for gay marriage are part of a larger modern rupture between sexuality and fertility. They mark a radical departure from the conviction that the union between a man and a woman guarantees the future of humanity, he said. Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made his comments in an interview published Nov. 19 by the Rome newspaper La Repubblica. The interview dealt primarily with Europe, where several countries have moved toward recognizing gay marriage.

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