Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Nicaragua's Catholic Church Opposes Gay Marriage


Nicaragua's largest Catholic diocese has spoken out against gay marriage, Spanish news agency EFE reported.

The diocese of Managua, Masaya and Carazo urged lawmakers on Sunday not to legalize the institution.

In a statement read during mass at La Catedral Metropolitana in Managua – the country's capital and largest city – the church reiterated its opposition to “the various projects together or alone that pretend to grant unions between members of the same sex with heterosexual marriage.”

After railing against the institution, the church said it welcomed gay men and lesbians with respect and without discrimination.

“The church makes a distinction between the respect for every person regardless of sexual orientation, but rejects homosexual and lesbian practices as an act objectively contrary to God's plan for the human race,” Archbishop of Nicaragua Henryk Jozef Nowacki said in the statement.

“The family is at the center of the great struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between love and those who are opposed to love,” he added.

No lawmaker has introduced a bill to legalize gay marriage, but the Managua government recently created a special prosecuting unit to defend the rights of its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens.
 
SIC: OTM/INT'L