Pope Campaigns Against Gay Marriages

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Pope John Paul II is continuing his fight against any growth in the legalization of gay marriage. It seems unlikely that he continue as pope for too long and it may be that he wants to solidify Catholic opposition to gay marriage before any transition.

ABC News reports:

John Paul said marriage, which the Vatican defines as a sacred union between man and woman, is a "human and divine" gift that should be defended by society. "In our times, a misunderstood sense of rights has sometimes disturbed the nature of the family institution and conjugal bond itself," he said. "It is necessary that at every level, the efforts of those who believe in the importance of the family based on matrimony unite."

I find it interesting that this argument being used by Pope John Paul II is so very similar to the arguments used by the Catholic Church against things like freedom of religion and freedom of the press. Then, as now, it was claimed that the desire of people to have freedom in such matters stemmed from a misunderstanding about what "real" freedom and what "real" rights actually are. The pope, you see, understands what real freedoms and real rights we all have - if we decide to expand our freedoms and rights outside of those boundaries, then we are doing something quite wrong.

It's also worth noting that, once again, opposition to gay marriage is being based on the idea that the state should enshrine in law a specifically religious conception of marriage. It's fine if Catholics believe that marriage is a "divine gift" and if they define Catholic marriage according to what they think their god wants them to do with that gift. There is a problem, though, in expecting the rest of society to follow the same model. Catholics have absolutely no justification for insisting that their conception of marriage become the legal standard of marriage.

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• Roman Catholicism
• Catholicism & Homosexuality
• Popes