Italy, Vatican leaders meet as gay debate rages

[Strengthandhonour]

Italy, Vatican leaders meet as gay debate rages
ROME: Leaders of Italy's government, which has proposed a law recognising unwed and gay couples, held closed-door talks on Monday with senior Vatican officials opposed to the bill.

The law has divided the centre-left government and drawn sharp criticism from the Catholic Church, which has asked lawmakers around the world to oppose the creation of family institutions that could rival marriage.
"We talked about the family. . . in terms the Church always uses, with clarity but respect for all positions," said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
The meeting, at which Bertone and other prelates met Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, President Giorgio Napolitano and other officials, was a regular diplomatic event but was the first since the disputed bill was proposed earlier this month.
Pope Benedict has accused political "lobbies" of damaging the family. "Divorce and free unions are on the rise, meanwhile adultery is viewed with an unjustifiable tolerance," he said on Saturday.
Prodi, a practising Catholic, has said the Church has nothing to fear from the bill, which guarantees rights to registered couples in areas like inheritance and health care.
Leaving the meeting, Prodi said only that it went "well".
The Church's staunch opposition to the bill has outraged Italy's secularists who say the Vatican has no right to interfere in politics.
Former president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, 88, who attends mass each morning, has warned the Vatican against trying to impose its will on Catholic lawmakers, saying that would "destroy (their) freedom and dignity . . . in parliament".
But Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, a centrist in a government that extends to the far left and includes vocal gay rights activists, opposes the bill. He has called it a "Trojan horse" to eventually allow gay marriage and predicted parliament will block it.
Opinions polls vary widely on what Italians think. A survey in left-leaning La Repubblica showed 80 per cent backed the bill, but the independent Corriere della Sera published a poll on Monday showing 45 per cent in favour and 47 per cent against.

source: Italy, Vatican leaders meet as gay debate rages - New Zealand\'s source for World News on Stuff.co.nz