CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday praised a recent demonstration in Rome against proposed legislation granting legal rights to unmarried couples, including gay ones, saying it showed that traditional family was at the core of Italian society.
Speaking in Vatican City, Benedict called the May 12 Family Day rally, organized by Catholic groups and family associations, a ''great and extraordinary popular festival.''
Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the demonstration to protest a bill that would grant legal rights to unmarried couples, including hospital visits and inheritance rights. The bill does not legalize same-sex marriage, as was done in other European countries, such as Spain.
The bill has angered the Vatican, which under Benedict has been conducting a fierce campaign to protect traditional family based on marriage between a man and a woman.
In a speech to Italian bishops, Benedict said he respected the distinction between the church and politics. But he added that the church cannot ignore ''what is good for man...what is good for the common good of Italy.''
He said the Family Day rally ''confirmed that the family itself is profoundly rooted in the heart and life of Italians.''
Benedict's speech came as the government opened a conference on the family in Florence to help it create family policies that are, according to organizers, ''more European and more modern.'' The conference was organized by the two cabinet ministers spearheading the legislation on legal recognition for unmarried couples.
In a keynote speech, Italian president Giorgio Napolitano urged lawmakers to listen to the church and not create an artificial confrontation between Catholics and laity. But he said that de facto unions were ''a reality'' that had to be taken into account.
The number of official marriages celebrated in Italy has declined steadily since the early 1970s with an ever-increasing number of de facto unions taking their place. The national statistics bureau, Istat, estimates there were about 592,000 such unions in Italy in 2005, or about 4.1% of all heterosexual couples. (Nicole Winfield, AP)
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
August 16 2024 5:57 PM
Latest Stories
HRC, Lambda Legal sue to stop Trump's transgender military ban
February 06 2025 8:50 PM
DOGE staffer resigns over uncovered racist posts
February 06 2025 7:18 PM
​'Heightened Scrutiny' is a somber reminder of why we fight for trans rights
February 06 2025 6:31 PM
NCAA caves and says it will obey Trump order banning trans athletes
February 06 2025 4:54 PM
Vision for long-delayed memorial to Pulse victims finally comes into view
February 06 2025 4:34 PM
Publishers and library sue Idaho over book ban that defines 'homosexuality' as 'harmful to minors'
February 06 2025 12:35 PM
Anti-trans Republican Nancy Mace doubles down on dehumanizing transphobic slur during hearing
February 06 2025 10:27 AM