Tuesday, March 13, 2007
DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE NON-NEGOTIABLE
Benedict gets tough...
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Church's opposition to gay marriage is "non-negotiable" and Catholic politicians have a moral duty to oppose it, as well as laws on abortion and euthanasia, Pope Benedict said in a document issued on Tuesday.
In a 140-page booklet on the workings of a synod that took place at the Vatican in 2005 on the theme of the Eucharist, the 79-year-old German Pope also re-affirmed the Catholic rule of celibacy for priests.
In the "Apostolic Exhortation" Benedict says all believers had to defend what he calls fundamental values but that the duty was "especially incumbent" for those in positions of power.
He said these included "respect for human life, its defense from conception to natural death, the family built on marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms".
"These values are not negotiable," he said.
He also reaffirmed the use of Latin and Gregorian Chant especially at large Masses and told the world "we cannot say that one song is as good as another." Amen to that!!
