Chilean Senator to Push Gay Marriage Bill

Fulvio Rossi, the leader of the Socialist party in Chile, said he plans to sponsor a marriage equality bill, and that he hopes the Roman Catholic Church will become less hostile toward the proposal.

The plan, which Rossi announced Sunday, is expected to encounter opposition from religious leaders, conservative president Sebastian Pinera, and other members of Congress, according to Reuters Canada. Last month, Argentina, a neighbor of Chile, became the first country in predominantly Catholic Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage.

According to Reuters Canada, Rossi told reporters, "This is a project that I will present ... and I am also calling on the Church to be more welcoming, and I say that as part of the Church.”

Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz has called the same-sex marriages in Argentina an “aberration.”