Even as the rest of the world is moving to support gay marriage, including religious and political leaders, Pope Benedict XVI is holding his ground, as his World Day of Peace 2013 annual address can surely confirm.
Over the weekend, the Pope held his annual address and, as
The Examiner reports, it also touched on topics like gay marriage (and support of it) and abortion.
Neither of these is natural, the address said. Supporting gay marriage or abortion equals a “threat to peace,” it continued.
“There is… a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union,” the Pope said.
These attempts should not be encouraged, much less applauded as welcome.
“Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society,” the Pope said.
“These principles are not truths of faith, nor are they simply a corollary of the right to religious freedom. They are inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason and thus common to all humanity,” he continued.
He went on to say gay marriage and abortion were a “threat to peace,” which prompted immediate reaction from the LGBT community. Various
protesters gathered in St. Peter’s Square holding placards in protest, but were immediately driven away by police.
A rep for the organizers of the protest released a very brief statement on why it was held, saying only, “Gay unions don't harm peace. Weapons do.”
As ever, the topic of gay marriage remains a controversial and highly debated one. LGBT members but not only see gay marriage as a sign of progress, while religious people consider it a sign of corruption, the loss of traditional values.
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