Vatican document reportedly criticizes feminism, gay marriage

An upcoming Vatican statement on the roles of men and women criticizes feminism for what it calls an attempt to ignore the biological differences between the genders, German and Italian media reported Friday. The 37-page document, expected to be released by the Vatican on Saturday, also calls on governments "to manage conditions so that women do not need to neglect their families if they want to pursue a job," according to the German daily Bild. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera said the document attacks the "ideology of gender" and stresses that a woman "is not a copy of a man." It repeats the prohibition on women's becoming priests but suggests that women should have an important role in the church, the paper said. The document also addresses homosexuality, Bild reported, saying that "God wanted a Christian marriage, a marriage between a man and a woman" and not between people of the same gender. The document was written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the guardian of church orthodoxy as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the reports said.