Vatican Slams Gay Rights at U.N.

The Vatican says that the newly introduced United Nations statement condemning institutionalized homophobia around the world vilifies gay rights critics.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi says "people are being attacked for taking positions that do not support sexual behavior between people of the same sex," he said to the Human Rights Council, according to Reuters. "When they express their moral beliefs or beliefs about human nature ... they are stigmatised, and worse -- they are vilified, and prosecuted."

The U.N. statement in question is backed by 85 countries, including the United States, which took the lead in introducing it this week.