Ecuador
Archbishop: Same-Sex Unions Incompatible With Catholic Faith

A top Roman Catholic official said the country's draft constitution is incompatible with the faith because of its provisions on abortion and same-sex unions.

Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil criticized the draft charter for including what he called ambiguous abortion laws and granting the same benefits to same-sex couples and married heterosexual couples.

''A union between homosexuals is not a family,'' Arregui said in a news conference Monday. ''We're going to request that the entire Christian conscience takes note of the nonnegotiable incompatibilities of this constitution with our faith.'' He also said the proposed document is ''leaving the door open to the deletion of a new baby.''

A special assembly controlled by leftist president Rafael Correa's political movement recently approved the 444-article constitution, which will be put to a national referendum September 28. More than 90% of Ecuador's nearly 14 million people are Catholic. (AP)